UPDATE - US adds 206,000 jobs in June, more than estimates of 191,000

UPDATES WITH ADDITIONAL FIGURES

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The US economy added 206,000 jobs in June, more than market estimates, according to Labor Department figures released Friday.

The market expectation for nonfarm payrolls was to show a gain of 191,000 last month.

Job additions for May, on the other hand, were revised down by 54,000, from 272,000 to 218,000.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, rose to 4.1% in June from 4% in May.

The market estimate for that figure was to remain unchanged at 4%.

The number of unemployed people slightly increased to 6.8 million in June, from 6.6 million in May, while the labor force participation rate slightly rose to 62.6% from 62.5% during that period.

The employment-population ratio, on the other hand, held steady at 60.1% during that period.

In June, the number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job declined by 483,000 to 5.2 million, the Labor Department said in a statement.

"These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job," it added.

Last month, most employment was seen in government employment with a gain of 70,000. This was followed by health care with 49,000 and social assistance with 34,000.

In June, average hourly earnings for all employees on private non-farm payrolls increased by 0.3% to $35.00 per hour, compared to May.

That figure showed an annual increase of 3.9%, compared to the same month of 2023.