WASHINGTON (AP) - Employers boosted payrolls by a tepid 121,000 in June—an improvement from the previous month but new evidence that companies are reluctant to bulk up their work forces in the face of high energy prices and slowing economic growth. Wages rose sharply. The Labor Department's fresh snapshot of job activity released Friday also showed that the nation's civilian unemployment rate held steady at 4.6 percent.
The pickup in payrolls last month followed a gain of 92,000 in May, which turned out to be slightly higher than the 75,000 positions first reported. April's payrolls, however, turned out to be lower, showing a gain of 112,000, rather than the 126,000 previously estimated.
The count of new jobs added in June was the most since March but fell short of economists' forecasts for an increase of 160,000 new positions.
