June jobs report live updates: US labor market slows from a 'sprint' to a 'jog'

The monthly jobs report showed that the labor market softened in June. The US economy added 57,000 jobs in June, versus 113,000 expected, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.2% in June from 4.3% in May.

June’s job growth numbers snapped a three-month streak of job growth over 100,000. The numbers also eased significantly from a revised 129,000 jobs added in May.

“I think the underlying message here is the job market went from that sprint of three months in a row of incredible gains to more of a jog,” Annex Wealth Management chief economist Brian Jacobsen told Yahoo Finance.

The report comes after a batch of mixed employment data this week. Data on job openings and labor turnover showed that 7.6 million positions were available in May, matching April’s levels, and the quits rate of 1.9% was unchanged. At the same time, global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that the pace of US job cuts declined to 46,000 in June, in a sign of labor market strength.