Hiring rebounds in June, easing fears of a U.S. recession

U.S. economy added 224,000 jobs and the unemployment rate is 3.7%.

The U.S. economy added 224,000 jobs in June, surging past expectations and helping ease fears about the nation’s economic health in the midst of President Trump’s trade war.

The unemployment rate inched up, to 3.7 percent, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday, but it remains near a half-century low. The rate increased because more Americans entered the labor force, meaning they found jobs or are actively searching for one again.

Many companies say they are struggling to find enough workers to fill all their job openings as the unemployment rate has been at or below 4 percent for more than a year.

Stocks fell Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average shedding 44 points. Many on Wall Street fear the good employment report might keep the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates at its July meeting or compel the central bank to do a more modest reduction than many investors had hoped.

The one yellow flag in the jobs report was wages. While companies say they are having to raise pay and offer more perks to hire and retain workers, wage gains continue to be weaker in this expansion than they were in the 1990s boom.

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