Podcasts Business Investing Notes on the Week Ahead Is 4.1% Unemployment a Recession Warning?

Is 4.1% Unemployment a Recession Warning?

Published: July 8, 2024, 5:25 p.m.

Despite a slightly higher-than-expected payroll job gain, the June employment report was on the soft side, with downward revisions to payroll gains from prior months, a drop in temporary employment and only modest gains in wages.\xa0 However, the weakest aspect of the report was the unemployment rate, which edged up from 4.0% to 4.1%.\xa0 This, in itself, wouldn\u2019t be particularly notable were it not for the fact that the unemployment rate has now risen steadily over the past 14 months from a 54-year low of 3.4% set in April of last year.