The US economy continued to add jobs in June at a rapid pace, while the unemployment rate held steady at 3.6 percent and wages rose, according to government data released Friday.
There were 372,000 new positions added in the month, far more than economists expected, the Labor Department reported.
Average hourly earnings rose by 10 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $32.08, and are up 5.1 percent over the past 12 months, the report said.
Meanwhile, the share of adults in the labor force was little changed at 62.2 percent.
The data will provide little comfort to the Federal Reserve, which has declared war on inflation at its highest level in more than 40 years. The central bank has implemented aggressive interest rate hikes to try to cool demand.
The economy gained 2.74 million jobs in the first half of the year, which is more than most full years dating back to 2000.
Total nonfarm employment remains just slightly below the pre-pandemic level in February 2020, but the private sector has recovered and is 140,000 higher, according to the report.
