955,000 jobs and fewer than half taking part

In June 2026 there were 955,000 non-farm salaried jobs, 2,500 more than in May and a thousand more than a year earlier. During 2025, 10,200 positions were added, and the sectors that grew most were government, lodging and recreation, health and education, retail and construction.

The figure that governs everything else is another one: labour participation is at 45.2%. Just over four in ten people of working age are working or looking.

That is the difference between a labour market improving and an economy growing. Employment rises on a base that is still half of what a comparable place would have, and much of what is not taking part is not unemployment: it is people who left the count a long time ago.

The fastest-growing sectors, lodging and recreation, are the ones belonging to tourism, which is the part of the economy that has spent five straight years breaking its own record.