Bloomberg
Employers probably kept hiring millions of Americans in June as states gradually lifted pandemic-related restrictions on businesses in a delicate
balancing act of getting economies rolling again while limiting infection rates.
Economists project the Labour Department will report a three million increase in payrolls after a surprising 2.5 million gain a month earlier.
The back-to-back gains, nonetheless, pale in comparison to the number of jobs lost before that — about 22 million in March and April combined.
The unemployment rate is seen falling only slightly in June, to just over 12% from 13.3%, though the figures could again be complicated by data-collection issues. Even so, the report will likely continue to indicate
a long road to recovery for
a labour market severely
damaged by a deep recession.
The data by the department will be issued on Thursday, a day earlier than usual because of Independence Day holiday.