Unemployment Rate Holds at 8.2%, Trucking Gains 2,000 Jobs

The U.S. unemployment rate held at 8.2% in June and trucking employment improved by 2,000 jobs, the Labor Department said Friday.

The transportation sector, of which trucking is a subset, added 25,300 jobs, according to the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Employers added 69,000 jobs to non-farm payrolls, following a revised 77,000 in May that was revised upward. Private-sector employment rose by 84,000 jobs, the weakest in 10 months.

Economists had forecast a 100,000 gain in non-farm jobs, Bloomberg reported.

Manufacturing employment rose by 11,000, more than the 7,000 increase forecast, Bloomberg said. Construction employment rose by 2,000 jobs.

The payroll and unemployment figures are obtained by separate surveys, with payrolls from a survey of employers and the unemployment rate from a survey of households.