Investing.com – The U.S labor market showed signs of recuperation as the economy created more jobs than expected, although the unemployment rate rose more than forecast from an eight-and-a-half year low, according to official data released on Friday.
Non-farm payrolls rose 287,000 in June, compared to the rise of 11,000 in May that was revised from the initial reading of 38,000 that had been the weakest read since September 2010. The data beat the consensus estimate for the creation of 175,000 jobs.
The jobless rate rose to 4.9%, from the prior 4.7%, worse than the forecast for an increase to 4.8%.
Average hourly earnings rose month-on-month by 0.1%, compared to the prior increase of 0.2% and coming below expectations for an increase of 0.2%.
The participation rate increased to 62.7%, from the prior 62.6% in May.
Additionally, the private sector created more of the new job contracts than expected in June with a total of 265,000, compared to consensus expectations of 170,000. May’s number was revised down to 11,000 private nonfarm payrolls, from the prior reading of 25,000.
Government payrolls increased by 22,000, compared to the creation of 17,000 public jobs that occurred in May, revised from an initial reading of 13,000.
Furthermore, the average weekly hours remained unchanged at 34.4 in June, in line with expectations.
After the report the dollar erased losses and turned higher, with the U.S. Dollar Index trading at 96.52, compared to 96.16 earlier. EUR/USD traded at 1.1028, from 1.1070 before the release, USD/JPY traded at 100.73, from 100.44, and GBP/USD was at 1.2929, compared to the previous 1.2975.
U.S. futures extended gains after the publication and, at 12:38GMT or 8:38AM ET, the blue-chip Dow futures rose 0.50%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.54% and the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.34%. Futures had been trading flat before the data.