The U.S. economy added 224,000 jobs in June, heavily beating expectations and creating a cautious optimism among analysts wary of the dismal growth seen in May.
The unemployment rate remained largely unchanged at 3.7 percent — or 6 million people — in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced Friday in its monthly jobs report.
“The number did beat expections but ... it was pretty abysmal a month ago, and that was revised downward,” Mitch Roschelle, a partner at PwC, told Cheddar.
In Friday’s report, the BLS amended its May figures from 75,000 to just 72,000 jobs added. June’s employment growth was, however, way above the average of 172,000 per month in 2019 so far. The average monthly gain for 2018 was 223,000 jobs.
The industries with the largest gains were professional and business services and health care, which added more than 51,000 and 35,000 jobs in June respectively. The transportation and warehousing sector added roughly 24,000 jobs.
"JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!" President Donald Trump tweeted Friday morning.
<i>U.S. Labor Department</i>
In June, average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents and have increased by 3.1 percent over the past 12 months.
The report indicates “that the labor market remains a strength of the economy” and “should ease some of the pressure that the Fed faces to cut rates,” Doug Duncan, the senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae, said in a statement to Cheddar.
The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates at its Federal Open Market Committee meeting later this month in an effort to hinder a potential downturn in the economy, which is currently experiencing its longest expansion on record.
“There is really nothing out there short of some big black swan event that will slow down this economy,” Roschelle said, noting, however, that a shrinking of the global economy would threaten domestic growth.
Nestlé has dismissed its CEO Laurent Freixe after an investigation into an undisclosed relationship with a direct subordinate. The company announced on Monday that the dismissal was effective immediately. An investigation found that Freixe violated Nestlé’s code of conduct. He had been CEO for a year. Philipp Navratil, a longtime Nestlé executive, will replace him. Chairman Paul Bulcke stated that the decision was necessary to uphold the company’s values and governance. Navratil began his career with Nestlé in 2001 and has held various roles, including CEO of Nestlé's Nespresso division since 2024.
Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after they joined in a massive merger that created one of the biggest food companies on the planet. One of the companies will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will include brands like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. When the company formed in 2015 it wanted to capitalize on its massive scale, but shifting tastes complicated those plans, with households seeking to introduce healthier options at the table. Kraft Heinz's net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.
