New Delhi, July 3 -- WASHINGTON - The unemployment rate stayed at 4.2 percent in June. That figure does not represent a labor market in equilibrium. It represents a labor market in retreat.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday that nonfarm payrolls rose by 57,000 in June, the smallest monthly gain in nearly two years and well below the roughly 150,000 economists had expected. The labor force participation rate fell to 61.5 percent - a level not reached since 1975 outside of the pandemic. The prior two months were revised down a combined 74,000 jobs. The revision to May alone stripped 43,000 from gains that had, at the time, appeared to stabilize a softening trend. The full employment situation release is available from the Bu...