US jobs growth moved up with speed in June as the economic reopening continued, official figures show.
Employers created a larger-than-expected 850,000 jobs last month, driven by new posts in bars and restaurants, retail and education.
Despite the boost in hiring, the unemployment rate was little changed at 5.9%, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
It comes as different industries offer incentives to battle a worker shortage.
Although the number of job vacancies has seen a record high of 9.3 million, firms such as McDonald’s and Chipotle in the hospitality industry, for example, have increased the minimum wages in their company restaurants to try to entice new staff.
The new monthly figures showed that average hourly earnings rose 0.3% last month after increasing 0.4% in May.
Although more than half of the jobs added in June were in leisure and hospitality, employment in those sectors is still down by about 2.2 million on pre-pandemic levels.
But President Biden said the figures marked “historic progress pulling our economy out of the worst crisis in a hundred years.”
He said on Friday: “We’ve now created over three million jobs since I took office, more jobs than have ever been created in the first five months of any presidency in modern history, thanks to the incredible work of the entire team.”
And some experts said the figures suggested a recovery was “well underway”.
“Key for us was the fact that jobs gains were led by the services sector, signalling the strong positive momentum in these areas,” said Xian Chan, chief investment officer of wealth management at HSBC.
“It also reminds us what a difference a year makes! In April last year, about 15% of people in the US were unemployed – a figure worse than the global financial crisis.”
He said that in contrast, it now looks like there are not enough workers to fill vacant positions.
Surveys have suggested that some people are hesitant to re-enter the workforce because of healthcare risks, child-care issues and unemployment benefits.
Under the $1.9tn coronavirus rescue package that President Joe Biden signed into law in March, some workers can get a $300 weekly supplemental benefit if they are out of a job.
But at least 25 states have opted to cut unemployment benefits prematurely, so people are not persuaded to stay at home.
“With economic growth booming, labour demand is strong and job openings have risen to all-time highs,” said John Leiper, chief investment officer at Tavistock Wealth. “Now it’s just a case of letting supply catch up.”
