The Line: June Job Growth Weaker than Expected

Today, we have the latest on jobs and celebrate two important holidays.

Employers added 57,000 jobs last month, well below the 115,000 Dow Jones consensus forecast.

Here are the other highlights of the jobs report:

• The unemployment rate fell to 4.2%, due to a steep decline in the number of people looking for jobs. Remember, you’re not unemployed if you’re not looking for work.
• June job growth was led by professional and business services (+36,000).
• Leisure and hospitality posted a 61,000 decline in employment, which is surprising since the World Cup was expected to add a lot of jobs in this category.
• Employment in April and May was revised downward by a total of 74,000.
• Wages rose 0.3% in June and are 3.5% higher than a year ago.

While this report is a bummer, especially after strong job growth in the previous three months, it’s certainly not the end of the world. Even with weak hiring in June and the reductions to the April and May numbers, the US still added 552,000 jobs in the first half of 2026. Remember that in the first half of 2025, we added just 162,000 jobs.

There are a few things to worry about:

• Prices continue to rise faster than wages. This hasn’t been a big problem so far, as consumer spending has been solid, but there’s only so long that can continue if prices don’t start to come down soon.
• The labor force participation rate, which is the percentage of working-age people working or looking for work, fell to 61.5% in June, its lowest level since March 2021. It’s hard for companies to find workers when the number of people looking for work is going down.

To sum up, although not a good jobs report, this certainly is not the worst news. Especially since weekly jobless claims remain at historically low levels, and as of the end of May there were still 7.59 million job openings in the US. June’s weak hiring may also convince the Fed to put off any rate hikes for now, but that will also depend on the June inflation data.

Congratulations on your 250th birthday. At times it’s been a bumpy road, and we’ve made some terrible mistakes, but there’s no other country I’d rather live in. Some of you may disagree, but isn’t that what America’s all about?

I am thankful for the opportunity this nation has given me and my family, and eternally grateful to those who have protected my freedom. Here’s to another 250 years!

This is a day all Yankees fans look forward to because, each July 1 through 2035, the Mets must pay Bobby Bonilla $1,193,248.20. Ha.

How did this happen, and what does this have to do with economics or finance?

It all started when the Mets agreed to pay Brett Saberhagen $250,000 a year for 25 years instead of making one lump-sum payment. The payments to Saberhagen end in 2029, and this was the inspiration for the Bonilla deal.

In 2000, the Mets bought out the remaining $5.9 million of Bonilla’s contract, but instead of just giving him that money, they agreed to make 25 annual payments of almost $1.2 million. When the payments end in 2035, Bonilla will be 72 years old.

Why would the Mets do this?

Well, because they’re the Mets, and here’s where the finance part comes in. As you may know, Mets ownership was heavily invested with Bernie Madoff, who promised them amazing—pun intended—returns on their investments. So they figured, why pay now when we’ll have truckloads of money later?

Leave it to the Mets to make the same mistake twice, but at least it will be all over in nine years.

Have a great holiday weekend!