The economy is continuing to recover strongly from the Coronavirus pandemic, with 4.8 million jobs created in June, an all-time record. The unemployment rate dropped more than two percentage points from 13.3 percent to 11.1 percent, according to the June jobs data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The June jobs numbers again beat estimates, which ranged from 2.4 million to 2.9 million jobs gained. Job gains in May were also revised upward by almost 200,000, bringing the total May jobs gains to 2.7 million.
The labor force participation rate increased by 0.7 percent to 61.5 percent. The number of Americans employed part-time due to the economic slowdown dropped 1.6 million.
The job gains include almost 740,000 retail jobs and 2.1 million leisure and hospitality jobs. Over 350,000 manufacturing jobs were also added.
While more work remains to be done and the recovery is not yet complete, these job gains vindicate the tax cut and deregulatory policies pushed by President Trump and Congressional Republicans.
Instead of expanding government, the Trump administration has responded to the pandemic by repealing regulations. All told, over 700 regulations have been suspended or waived at the federal, state, and local level.
Moving forward, if Congress decides further COVID-19 relief legislation is necessary, it should be narrow and targeted in scope. Efforts by Democrats House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to pass trillions of dollars in further legislation should be rejected.