Solid Job Growth in June

The U.S. labor market continued to show resilience in June. According to the Employment Situation Summary reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 147,000 in June, following an upwardly revised increase of 144,000 jobs in May. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.1%, signaling ongoing strength in hiring despite persistent economic uncertainty.

However, there were some indications that the headline number overstated the health of the labor market. Wage growth slowed in June, with a year-over-year rate of 3.7%, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous month. Wage growth has been outpacing inflation for nearly two years, which typically occurs as productivity increases. And job gains were concentrated to state and local government.

National Employment Trends

Since January 2021, the U.S. job market has seen 54 consecutive months of job growth — the third-longest period of employment expansion on record. In 2025, monthly employment growth has averaged 124,000, compared with the 168,000 monthly average gain for 2024.

The unemployment rate declined to 4.1% in June. The June decrease in the unemployment rate reflected the decrease in the number of persons unemployed (-222,000) and the increase in the number of persons employed (93,000).

Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate — the proportion of the population either looking for a job or already holding a job — decreased by one percentage point to 62.3%. This remains below its pre-pandemic level of 63.3%. Among the prime working-age group (ages 25 to 54), the participation rate rose by one percentage point to 83.5%. However, that rate has been trending downward since reaching a peak of 83.9% last summer.

Construction Employment

Employment in the overall construction sector rose by 15,000 in June, following an upwardly revised gain of 6,000 in May. While residential construction gained 5,500 jobs, non-residential construction employment added 9,200 jobs during the month.

Residential construction employment now stands at 3.3 million in June, broken down as 959,000 builders and 2.4 million residential specialty trade contractors. Over the last 12 months, home builders and remodelers experienced a net loss of 1,400 jobs, marking the second annual decline since September 2020. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,360,600 positions.

NAHB Senior Director of Forecasting & Analysis Jing Fu provides more in this Eye on Housing post.