Unemployment Rate

July 2, 2026 OK The unemployment rate fell 0.1% in June to 4.2% after having been unchanged in both April and May at 4.3%.  The labor force plunged by 720  thousand in June employment fell by 507 thousand.  As a result, the number of unemployed workers declined by 213...

Nonfarm Workweek

July 2, 2026 In any given month employers can boost output by either additional hiring workers or by lengthening the number of hours that their employees work.  Payroll employment climbed by 57 thousand in June.  At the same time the nonfarm workweek was unchanged at ...

Average Hourly Earnings

July 2, 2026 Average  hourly earnings rose 0.3% in June to $37.64 in June after climbing by 0.3% in May and 0.2% in April,  Earnings growth  in the past year has been 3.5%. While nominal earnings have risen 3.5% in the past year, inflation has risen by 4.3% so real or...

Average Duration of Unemployment

July 2, 2025 The average duration of unemployment fell 0.5 week in June to 25.5 weeks after having risen 1.6 weeks in May.   That works out to an average duration of unemployment of six months. It appears that unemployed workers are having a somewhat more difficult...

Construction Spending

July 1, 2026 Construction spending (the green bars above) rose 0.1% in May after climbing 0.3% in April.  In the past 12 months it has declined 1.5% Private construction spending (excluding the government sector) was unchanged in May after having risen 0.3% in April. ...