US Data Release: US State Employment Monitor

New England

• The New England labor market posted a moderate gain in June, creating 9.7k new jobs - half of its May tally. 
  
  
• Mass. (+10.5k) led the way, with Vt. (+1.0k) also adding to the headline. Performance was more muted elsewhere. Payrolls edged up by 0.6k in Conn., remained flat in Me., and contracted in N.H. (-2.1k) and R.I. (-0.3k). 
  
  
• Both construction (+1.8k) and manufacturing (+1.4k) posted decent gains on the month. In the service sector new jobs were concentrated in prof. & technical (+4.6k), administrative & support services (+2.5k), leisure & hospitality (+1.5k), and transportation (+1.8k).
  
  
• Jobless rates declined by 0.3 pp to 5.7% in Conn. on weak labor force growth, and 0.1pp to 5.9% in R.I. Joblessness was unchanged elsewhere in the region

• Coming on the heels of a blockbuster 60k gain in May, job creation in the Mid-Atlantic region decelerated to 15.4k in June. 
  
  
• Job gains were concentrated entirely in the Empire State (+25.5k), while payrolls edged lower in Pa. (-2.7k) and N.J. (-7.4k). This was the first month of job losses in N.J. in exactly one year. 
  
  
• The bulk of new jobs were in healthcare (+11.8k), government (+3.7k), finance (+3.6k), and prof. & technical services (+4.7k). By contrast, hiring was flat in manufacturing and pulled back in construction (-3.6k), retail trade (-6.8k) and education (-4.1k). 
  
  
• The jobless rate declined in N.Y. (-0.2pp to 5.5%) and N.J. (-0.4pp to 6.1%), and remained unchanged in Pa.

• After two exceptional months the Upper South Atlantic lost 2.7k jobs in June. 
  
  
• Va.'s winning streak continued (+13.4k), with Del. also adding jobs (+1.2k). However, Md. (-6.2k), W.Va. (-4.5k), D.C. (-3.5k) and N.C. (-3.1k) lost jobs.
  
  
•  Government (-12.5k) led losses, not unusual for this time of the year. Education & health (-5.4k) also declined, while retail (+11k) and financial services (+4.0k) were the lone outperformers. 
  
  
• Once again, jobless rates continued to fall in D.C. (-0.3pp) and Md. (-0.1pp), while remaining unchanged in Va. Rates in Del. and N.C. ticked up by 0.1pp, with W.Va. unemployment up 0.2pp to 7.4% - the highest in the region.

• The Lower South Atlantic added 19.9k jobs in June, roughly the same as the previous month.
• S.C. led the way, with 10.5k jobs added, pushing the growth rate to 2.9% y/y. Fla.'s gain slowed to just 7k - the slowest since Jan. - while Georgia added only 2.3k. 
  
  
• Retail accounted for more than half the gains (+10.7k), with education & health (+5.8k) and leisure & hospitality (+4.3k) contributing the rest. Meanwhile, professional & business services (-4k) lost jobs. Ditto for construction (-2.5k), which saw a third monthly contraction. 
  
  
• The jobless rates fell by 0.2 percentage points across the region. Florida's rate (5.5%) is nearing the national, while labor markets in Ga. (6.1%) and S.C. (6.6%) are somewhat looser