June’s jobs report did not just miss expectations; it also complicated the story economists had been telling about a labor market that might be reaccelerating into summer. Payrolls rose by only 57,000, and both April and May were revised down by a combined 74,000 jobs, which means the recent pace of hiring looks weaker in retrospect than it did on the day those reports were first released. That matters because revisions can change the signal from a single month’s surprise into a broader pattern of slowing momentum.
In a statement sent to Fortune, Glassdoor Chief Economist Daniel Zhao said the report “put a damper on the fireworks” and left the labor market looking “more fizzle than sparkle,” arguing that the unemployment rate’s drop to 4.2% is less reassuring than it appears because it was driven by a fall in labor force participation to 61.5%, not by a surge in hiring.
