Labor Market and Economy Report: A Look at Trends in June 2024

Executive Summary

Job Growth

The U.S. employment increased by 206,000 jobs in June, down from the previous month’s 272,000’s jobs. The unemployment rate remained relatively unchanged at 4.1%.

The government, healthcare, social assistance and construction industries experienced the largest gains in June. Government added 70,000 jobs in June, higher than the average monthly gain of 49,000 over the prior 12 months. Healthcare added 49,000 jobs while social assistance grew by 34,000 jobs and construction by 27,000 jobs. Other industries Aston Carter supports, like professional and business services, financial activities, continued to see little change over the last month.

Unemployment and Labor Force Participation

The unemployment rate increased from 4% in May to 4.1% in June. The labor force participation rate also grew slights from 62.5% to 62.6%.

Unemployment rates, specific to the industries Aston Carter supports, were as follows for June: finance and insurance (2.6%), professional and business services (3.8%), manufacturing (2.8%), and hospitals (1.7%).

Among skilled labor categories Aston Carter sources talent for, unemployment in business and financial was 2.6% and office and administrative was 3%.

Inflation

The year-over-year inflation rate eased to 3% in June, down from 3.3% in May. The inflation rate has now slowed three consecutive months.

Wage Growth

Average hourly earnings increased by 3.9% for the 12 months ending in June, which was slightly below the year-over-year increase of 4.1% recorded in May. “Real" average hourly earnings (wages adjusted for inflation) increased 0.8% from June 2023 to June 2024. In other words, average hourly earnings are keeping up with inflation, although consumers may still be feeling the pressure of higher prices.