Trending 
The United States added a meagre 57,000 jobs in June, missing Wall Street expectations and signalling that the labour market faces persistent economic headwinds.
A new report from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) showed that hiring fell well short of the 115,000 positions that economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal had predicted, even as the national unemployment rate ticked down slightly to 4.2 per cent.
The government further dampened economic sentiment by revising previous data downward, slashing employment gains from April and May by a combined 74,000 jobs.
While the healthcare and social assistance sectors drove the majority of the month’s expansion, the leisure and hospitality sector shed positions after a strong showing in May.
Despite the sluggish overall expansion, hiring remained in positive territory, which will likely keep the US Federal Reserve from intervening on the employment front.
Investors and analysts continue to watch the central bank closely under new Chair Kevin Warsh, who recently indicated that policymakers will keep their focus firmly on combatting surging inflation.
