Cooling Jobs Data Keeps Fed Focused on Inflation

A cooler-than-expected June employment report is likely to keep Federal Reserve officials focused on inflation while supporting an extended pause in interest rate increases, Yahoo Finance reported.

The June US jobs report showed slower hiring, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve will remain focused on inflation.

The US economy added 57,000 jobs in June, well below economists' expectations of 113,000 and sharply lower than May's revised total.

The unemployment rate edged down to 4.2 percent from 4.3 percent in May, defying expectations that it would remain unchanged.

Payroll gains for April and May were also revised lower. April employment growth was reduced by 31,000 to 148,000, while May's figure was lowered by 43,000 to 129,000.

Average monthly job growth over the past three months now stands at approximately 111,000.

Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, said he remains concerned about the decline in labor force participation, which fell 0.3 percentage point to 61.5 percent.