Hiring around the country picked up in June with employers adding 146,000 jobs, helping to push the unemployment rate down to 5 percent, the lowest in nearly four years.
The modest payroll gain of 146,000 jobs in June was up from 104,000 net jobs added in May, the Labor Department said. Economists were forecasting a more robust increase of around 195,000 jobs for the month.
Manufacturers shed jobs in June for the fourth month in a row. Job growth slowed in retailing but picked up briskly in professional and business services, and in the leisure and hospitality field.
