US jobs report for June is likely to point to slower but still-solid hiring

The American job market likely cooled last month while still remaining fundamentally healthy, which would be welcome news for the Federal Reserve in its drive to fully tame inflation. The latest jobs report is expected to show that employers added 190,000 jobs — a solid gain, though down from a robust 272,000 in May. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at a low 4%. From the Fed’s perspective, a deceleration in hiring to a still-decent pace would be just about ideal. It would suggest that the job market is slowing enough to ease pressure on employers to sharply raise pay, which could feed inflation, yet not so much as to cause waves of layoffs.