THE labor market remained stable in June at USAwith the unemployment rate falling slightly to 3.6%, which is still historically low, but the new jobs created were less than expected.

Last month, 209,000 jobs were created, the Labor Ministry announced today, while analysts expected 220,000.

In addition, the number of new jobs for April and May were revised down to 217,000 and 306,000 respectively for the two-month total — 110,000 fewer jobs than originally reported.

The new jobs still involve public administration, the health and social welfare sectors, as well as the construction sector, the Ministry of Labor emphasized.

However, in a sign of the current slowdown in a market that remains extremely tight, the average number of jobs created per month in the first six months of the year is significantly lower than the average seen for the whole of 2022 (278,000 respectively compared to 399,000 jobs on average).

Investors fear an overly bullish labor market will prompt the Fed to raise key interest rates again at its next meeting in late July.

The Fed has started a tighter monetary policy from March 2022 to reduce inflation and bring it back to the 2% target, but the US economy has proved more stable than initially forecast and inflation more persistent than the expected.

Reacting to the Labor Department data, US President Joe Biden said it showed continued but slowing job growth is “Bidenomics in action” his vision for the US economy) and a sign of sustainable economic growth.

“We are seeing steady growth,” Biden said in his announcement. “This is Bidenomics – growing the economy by creating jobs, lowering costs for hard-working families and making smart investments in America.”