U.S. job gains top estimates; Jobless rate holds at 3.6%

U.S. employers added more jobs in June than forecast and the unemployment rate held near a five-decade low, suggesting hiring needs are so far eclipsing concerns about the economic outlook.

Nonfarm payrolls rose 372,000 last month following a revised 384,000 in May, a Labor Department report showed Friday. The unemployment rate held at 3.6 per cent and average hourly earnings rose 0.3 per cent from a month earlier.

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The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 265,000 advance in payrolls and for the unemployment rate to hold at 3.6 per cent.