U.S. payrolls miss at 57,000; unemployment rate slips to 4.2%

57,000 jobs is the number that moved the June U.S. employment report into macro-surprise territory. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said nonfarm payroll employment changed little in June at +57,000, while MarketWatch cited an economist forecast of 115,000. The unemployment rate moved to 4.2%, down from 4.3% in May, leaving the headline report mixed rather than uniformly weak.

The revision line matters for rates. BLS lowered April payroll growth by 31,000, from 179,000 to 148,000, and May by 43,000, from 172,000 to 129,000. That puts the two prior months 74,000 jobs below the earlier estimate, a concrete downgrade to labor momentum before the Fed’s late-July policy meeting.

The industry detail was uneven. Professional and business services added 36,000 jobs, social assistance added 25,000, and health care added 22,000. Leisure and hospitality lost 61,000 jobs, which BLS tied to weaker than usual seasonal hiring. The labor force participation rate fell 0.3 percentage point to 61.5%, and the employment-population ratio edged down to 59.0%.

Wage data kept the inflation question alive. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% to $37.64 and increased 3.5% over the year. The next market check is whether July payrolls, due August 7, 2026, confirm slower hiring or show that June was a one-month distortion.

Sources: BLS Employment Situation, June 2026; MarketWatch forecast reference.