--- description: The United States labor market put in a tepid performance in June, with the addition of only 223,000 jobs. title: U.S. Unemployment Rate Drops to 5.3% image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b0f1a895a425ae6/69885975196cf4cb2a036f51/gettyimages-149942948.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Economy](/tag/economy/) ## Economy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.S. Unemployment Rate Drops to 5.3% by [Claire Zillman / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Claire Zillman / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 2, 2015 1:11 PM CUT  A "now hiring" sign is viewed in the window of a fast food restaurant on August 7, 2012 in New York City. A "now hiring" sign is viewed in the window of a fast food restaurant on August 7, 2012 in New York City.Spencer Platt—Getty Images by [Claire Zillman / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Claire Zillman / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 2, 2015 1:11 PM CUT The United States labor market put in a tepid performance in June, with the addition of only 223,000 jobs, according to [a report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday](http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm "undefined"). That was short of analysts’ exceptions, which put estimates for June job growth in the 225,000 to 230,000 territory. According to the household survey, unemployment declined to a seven-year low of 5.3% in June, after inching up to 5.5% in May. Though the jobs report’s top line numbers were not too bad, a closely-watched sub-indicator didn’t show such good news: hourly wages remained flat in June. That stagnation could delay a long-awaited hike in interest rates. After the May jobs report showed that wages had increased by 8 cents per hour, Federal Reserve chair [Janet Yellen said at a press conference June 17](http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/06/17/yellen-sees-nascent-signs-of-pickup-in-u-s-wage-growth/ "undefined") that “wage increases are still running at a low level, but there have been some tentative signs that wage growth is picking up.” Thursday’s report—released a day early because of the observation of the July 4th holiday on Friday—also showed that labor force participation dipped by 432,000 or 0.3% in June after an increase of similar size in May. The share of Americans participating in the labor market fell back from 62.9% in May to 62.6%–its lowest since 1977. The number of long-term unemployed who’ve been without a job for 27 weeks or more declined by 381,000 to 2.1 million in June. Over the past 12 months that figure—which currently makes up 25.8% of the unemployed—has decreased by nearly 1 million. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3944484/unemployment-rate-jobs-numbers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3944484/unemployment-rate-jobs-numbers/"},"headline":"U.S. Unemployment Rate Drops to 5.3%","datePublished":"2015-07-02T13:11:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:43:56.123Z","description":"But labor force participation dropped","url":"https://time.com/3944484/unemployment-rate-jobs-numbers/","keywords":["Economy","Jobs report","pubdesk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b0f1a895a425ae6/69885975196cf4cb2a036f51/gettyimages-149942948.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Claire Zillman / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b0f1a895a425ae6/69885975196cf4cb2a036f51/gettyimages-149942948.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Employers Post Most Job Openings In Four Years In June","caption":"Employers Post Most Job Openings In Four Years In June","creditText":"Spencer Platt—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/economy/","name":"Economy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3944484/unemployment-rate-jobs-numbers/","name":"U.S. Unemployment Rate Drops to 5.3%"}}]}] ```