US employers add a solid 372,000 jobs in sign of resilience

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers shrugged off high inflation and weakening growth to add 372,000 jobs in June, a surprisingly strong gain that will likely spur the Federal Reserve to keep sharply raising interest rates to cool the economy and slow price increases.

The past year’s streak of robust hiring has been good for job seekers and has led to higher pay for many employees. But it has also helped fuel the highest inflation in four decades and heightened pressure on the Fed to further slow borrowing and spending.

The unemployment rate remained at 3.6% for a fourth straight month, matching a near-50-year low that was reached before the pandemic struck in early 2020.