The labor market continued to gain momentum and defy a mixed economy in June as employers added 288,000 jobs, the Labor Department said Thursday.
The unemployment rate fell to 6.1% vs. 6.3% in May. That's the lowest it's been since September 2008.
Economists had estimated that 215,000 jobs were added last month.
The economy has now gained at least 200,000 jobs a month for the past five months — the first such stretch since September 1999-January 2000.
FIRST TAKE: Wall Street's obsession with jobs data
In June, businesses added 262,000 jobs, with professional and business services, retail and health care leading the broad-based gains. Federal, state and local governments added 26,000.
Also encouraging: Job gains for April and May were revised up by a total 29,000.
April's increase was revised to 304,000 from 282,000 and May's to 224,000 from 217,000. April's total marks the first time monthly job gains topped 300,000 since January 2012.
Payroll additions have averaged 272,000 the past three months and 231,000 for the year, vs. 194,000 in 2013.
Bob Baur, chief global economist of Principal Global Investors, says accelerating job growth is feeding into a virtuous cycle, in which stronger payroll gains lead to higher consumer spending and further employment advances.
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Noting that the average workweek for manufacturing employees is at a record high of 41.1 hours, he says that many businesses that see stronger sales "are not going to have a choice but to add payroll."
Last month, professional and business services added 67,000 jobs; retailers 40,000; leisure and hospitality, 39,000; and education and health services, 38,000.
Local governments continued a recent surge in employment, adding 22,000 jobs.
Some other labor market indicators were positive as well.
The number of Americans out of work at least six months dropped by 293,000 to 3.1 million. The long-term unemployed still make up 32.8% of all the jobless.
A broader measure of distress in the job market — which includes part-time employees who prefer full-time jobs, Americans who have given up looking for work, and the unemployed — dipped to 12.1% from 12.2%.
The average workweek was unchanged at 34.5 hours for the fourth-straight month. Employers often add hours before adding staffers. Hourly earnings rose 6 cents to $24.45.
One modest disappointment is that the report did not reveal the pickup in wage gains that economists have been anticipating. Average hourly earnings are up just 2% over the past 12 months. That likely will prompt the Federal Reserve to stick to a rough blueprint that doesn't have it raising short-term interest rates before the middle of 2015, says Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics.
But Ashworth expects wage increases to accelerate the second half of the year, leading the Fed to raise rates next March.
Several economists expected continued strong employment advances after private payroll processor ADP released its own survey Wednesday, showing that businesses added 281,000 jobs in June — the most since November 2012.
Also, initial jobless claims have fallen to pre-recession levels, and surveys of service-sector employment are indicating a pickup in hiring. Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Thursday that announced job cuts fell to 31,434 in June from 52,961 in May and are down 5% so far this year.
Goldman Sachs had cautioned that the labor market might have taken a breather in June after four months of 200,000-plus gains, noting that a bounce-back in hiring after the harsh winter weather may be losing steam.
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