by Calculated Risk on 7/07/2006 12:11:00 PM

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows cumulative employment growth for Bush's second term. So far job growth has been about as expected.

Construction employment showed a slight decline in June. The construction declines were in 'Residential building' and 'Residential specialty trade contractors', finally showing a slight impact from the housing slowdown.

Rex Nutting reported for MarketWatch: Jobs report not as weak as it looks

The U.S. labor market was stronger in June than indicated by the tepid 121,000 growth in nonfarm payrolls.

The data from the Labor Department released Friday paint a muddled picture. While job growth of 121,000 was less than the 175,000 expected by economists and far less than the 390,000 projected by the ADP index, other aspects of the report show a healthier labor market. See full story.

"Everything else in the report showed strength," said David Greenlaw, an economist for Morgan Stanley.

In contrast to the weak payroll survey, the household survey showed robust job growth of 387,000 in June, keeping the unemployment rate at a very low 4.6%. The number of hours worked rose smartly, and average pay increased. The number of people who've been out of work longer than six months dropped by 217,000 to 1.1 million. The labor force participation rate rose by a tenth of a percentage point to 66.2%