Non-farm payrolls in the United States rose 213,000 in June, but the unemployment rate down south was 4%.
Economists had expected a gain of 195,000 and the jobless rate to hold steady at 3.8%, which had been tied for the lowest since 1969.
In addition to the payroll gains, average hourly earnings rose 2.7% year over year, below expectations of a 2.8% increase.
Despite increasing talk about the economy being near full employment, hiring continues to grow. Along with June's upside surprise, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revised April's count up from 159,000 to 175,000 and May's from 223,000 to 244,000, a total of 37,000 more than initially stated.
The increase in the unemployment rate came due to a rise in the labor force participation rate, which increased 0.2 percentage points to 62.9%. A more encompassing measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers and those at part-time jobs for economic reasons also rose two-10ths, to 7.8%
Professional and business services led the way with 50,000 new jobs while manufacturing added 36,000. Health-care jobs were up 25,000 and construction gained 13,000. Retail lost 22,000 jobs.
