Your Evening Briefing: Slowing US Job Growth Predicted

US employers are forecast to have added the fewest jobs in over a year in June, but economists say that slowdown isn’t concerning. The jobs report from the Labor Department on Friday is expected to show the unemployment rate remaining at historically low levels and another month of solid wage growth, suggesting that employers are still eager to find qualified workers and retain the ones they already have. Job openings are hovering near record highs, while layoffs are well below pre-pandemic levels. While the prediction lends a helping hand to the Fed’s maneuvering to cut inflation while avoiding a downturn, Bloomberg Economics says it’s good news for workers regardless: “Even if ‘soft landing’ ultimately proves as taboo a term as ‘transitory inflation,’ there are reasons to think the job market will not fall off a cliff this year.”

Bloomberg is tracking the coronavirus pandemic and the progress of global vaccination efforts.