US Payroll Growth Slows and Jobless Rate Ticks Up to 4.1%

US hiring and wage growth stepped down in June while the jobless rate rose to the highest since late 2021, bolstering prospects that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates in coming months.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 206,000 and job growth in the prior two months was revised down by 111,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 190,000 increase.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.1% as more people entered the labor force, and average hourly earnings cooled.

Average employment growth over the last three months ...