Employment report shows economy adding jobs in private sector

WASHINGTON -The White House on Friday lauded an employment report those shows the economy is adding jobs.

“Today’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates that private sector businesses added 202,000 jobs last month,” The White House said in a statement.  “Total non-farm payroll employment rose by 195,000 jobs in June. The economy has now added private sector jobs for 40 consecutive months, and a total of 7.2 million jobs has been added over that period. In spite of monthly volatility, over the past three years the pace of job growth has increased each year.”

The report shows that so far this year, 1.23 million private sector jobs have been added.  Employment rose in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade, health care, and financial activities.

“The household survey showed that the unemployment rate remained at 7.6 percent in June down from 8.2 percent a year ago,” the statement continued. “The labor force participation rate rose by 0.1 percentage point for the second month in a row to 63.5 percent in June.”

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for adult women (6.8 percent) edged up in June, while the rates for adult men (7.0 percent), teenagers (24.0 percent), whites (6.6 percent), blacks (13.7 percent), and Hispanics (9.1 percent) showed little or no change. The jobless rate for Asians was 5.0 percent (not seasonally adjusted), down from 6.3 percent a year earlier.

In June, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 4.3 million. These individuals accounted for 36.7 percent of the unemployed. Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed has declined by 1.0 million.

The White House promised to fight any action that could slow the economic recovery.

“In the four years since the recession ended in June 2009, the economy has added 5.3 million jobs, thanks to the resilience of the American people and policies like the Recovery Act, which helped bring the recession to an end and put us on the path to recovery. With the recovery gaining traction, now is not the time for Washington to impose self-inflicted wounds on the economy. The President will continue to press Congress to act on the proposals he called for in his State of the Union address to make America a magnet for good jobs, help workers obtain the skills they need for those jobs, and make sure that honest work leads to a decent living.”