Day: July 3, 2014

The U.S. economy added 288,000 jobs in June, surprising some economists who only expected 215k. The economy has now added more than 200,000 jobs a month for five straight months, the best stretch since January 2000. The unemployment rate also dropped to 6.1%, the lowest it's been since September 2008.

Also encouraging: Job gains for April and May were revised up by a total 29,000. April's increase was revised to 304,000 from 282,000 and May's to 224,000 from 217,000. April's total marks the first time monthly job gains topped 300,000 since January 2012. Payroll additions have averaged 272,000 the past three months and 231,000 for the year, vs. 194,000 in 2013. Bob Baur, chief global economist of Principal Global Investors, says accelerating job growth is feeding into a virtuous cycle, in which stronger payroll gains lead to higher consumer spending and further employment advances.