US created 287K jobs in June vs. 175K expected, unemployment rate at 4.9 pct
The U.S. created 287,000 jobs in June, massively topping analyst expectations.
The national unemployment rate, meanwhile, rose slightly more than expected in June, to 4.9 percent, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Jobs watchers had been expecting Friday's jobs report to show a substantial rebound from May's unexpectedly weak growth, but the June number easily topped expectations.
Economists surveyed by Reuters said they were, on average, expecting nonfarm payrolls to show growth of 175,000 for June, and the unemployment rate to rise to 4.8 percent.
U.S. market futures jumped on the report.
"The economy added 287,000 jobs in June, a bounce-back from May's low number and a clear indication that the economy continues to make solid progress," White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jason Furman said in a statement.
The already weak payrolls growth from May was revised even further downward, to 11,000. April's growth, meanwhile, was revised upward from 123,000 to 144,000. Last month, the initial May report showed the U.S. unemployment rate came in at 4.7 percent, a recent low, but nonfarm payrolls only grew a dismal 38,000 jobs.
Over the last three months, job gains have averaged about 147,000 per month.
The BLS also reported that the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was 34.4 hours — the fifth consecutive month for that result. U.S. average hourly earnings for private nonfarm payroll employees moved 2 cents higher in June to $25.61.
Fed funds futures show low expectations for a rate hike this year. After the June data release, there was just a 24 percent chance of a hike priced in for December — it had been 12 percent on Thursday night, according to Jefferies.
Despite the market's expectation for a dovish central bank, Fed Chair Janet Yellen has struck a generally positive tone in recent addresses.
In a post-May jobs report speech from Philadelphia, Yellen said her overall assessment of the labor market is quite positive. Although the slowdown indicated by the May numbers bears "close watching," she said, wage growth may "finally be picking up."
"Although this recent labor market report was, on balance, concerning, let me emphasize that one should never attach too much significance to any single monthly report," she said in prepared June 6 remarks.
Still, the Fed opted to leave rates unchanged in June and officials only weakly committed to two more rate hikes this year.
Friday's jobs report will also likely factor into the ongoing U.S. presidential election, which has seen presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton spar with the GOP's Donald Trump, the latter of whose support has largely come from districts with high joblessness.
—Reuters and CNBC's Patti Domm contributed to this report.