Hiring surged in June despite inflation, with 372,000 jobs created

Hiring stayed strong in June despite persistent inflation and worries about a coming recession. Employers added 372,000 jobs, the Labor Department said Friday, surpassing the 270,000 economists had expected.

The unemployment rate remained at 3.6%, close to its pre-pandemic low.

"Today's jobs report is a milestone marking a more-than-full recovery in private-sector employment," Julia Pollak, labor economist at ZipRecruiter, said in a note. "Employment gains were surprisingly broad-based, with gains even in those industries that tend to be most sensitive to interest rate hikes."