U.S. economy adds 288,000 jobs in June

With some analysts predicting that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics would report an increase of about 215,000 jobs in June, the bureau’s final numbers surprised everyone. The economy added 288,000 jobs during the month, and the unemployment rate dropped from 6.3% to 6.1%, the lowest since September 2008.

At the same time, the BLS revised the April and May numbers upward, from 282,000 jobs to 304,000 in April and from 217,000 to 224,000 in May.