U.S. adds healthy 213,000 jobs in June, but unemployment rate backs up to 4%

• July 6, 2018
• realestatelife
• Announcements, Business & Markets, Real Estate, Real Estate Finance, Your Real Estate Life

The U.S. created 213,000 new jobs in June, another hearty gain that shows companies are finding ways to fill open jobs despite a dwindling pool of skilled workers.

The gain in hiring topped the 200,000 forecast of economists polled.

In a surprise, the unemployment rate rose to 4% from 3.8%, the Labor Department said Friday. The number of people who were unemployed grew by half a million, an increase that might be tied to the end of the school year.

The shrinking pool of labor is slowly forcing companies to raise pay as the competition for talent intensifies, but they are still managing to keep labor costs down.

Hourly wages rose 5 cents, or 0.2%, to $26.98. Yet the yearly rate of pay increases was unchanged at 2.7%.