The US’ job market has once again shown itself to be strengthening. The latest report from the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) showed that in June 2016, nonfarm employment in the US grew by a strong 287,000 jobs.

In particular, business and professional service employment saw strong gains, adding 38,000 jobs to the economy. This was higher than average, with the BLS noting: “Thus far this year, the industry has added an average of 30,000 jobs per month.” Employment in such services is generally deemed a good a barometer of the overall strength of employment demand in the US.

In particular, business and professional service employment saw strong gains

Alongside this, telecommunications saw a 28,000 increase in jobs, following a significant fall in May due to strikes at Verizon, while manufacturing added 14,000 jobs. Finance and retail also saw solid growth.

A rise in the official unemployment rate was also recorded, growing from 4.7 percent in May to 4.9 percent in June. However, it is judged that this change reflected unemployed workers who had previously dropped out of statistics re-entering the job market, owing to its generally increased strength.

Overall, June showed strong gains following on from the previous month’s disappointing growth, which saw employment figures growing only in the tens of thousands. This slow rate of job growth in May had raised fears that the US’ historic post-recession job growth was faltering.

Fears over US employment recovery running out of steam were cited by the Federal Reserve at their latest FOMC meeting as influencing their decision to hold off on a rate rise. These latest figures, however, suggest that May’s disappointing growth was an outlier, and that the US is still on track for employment recovery.