July 3 (UPI) — The U.S. economy added seasonally adjusted 147,000 jobs in June despite lower predictions, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday.

The BLS’ monthly jobs report showed a slight uptick over May’s 139,000 increase. The estimate for the July report was 110,000 nonfarm jobs added.

The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%, which is lower than the expected increase of 4.3%. The rate that includes discouraged workers and part-time workers slid to 7.7%. There are 7 million unemployed people in the United States. The jobless rate dropped due to fewer workers looking for jobs. The unemployment rate has stayed between 4% and 4.2% since May 2024.

According to the BLS, there were job gains in health care (39,000) and state government, while the federal government keeps losing jobs. The government lost 7,000 jobs in June, and employment is down by 69,000 since its January peak. (Those on paid leave or getting ongoing severance are counted as employed.)

People who work part-time for economic reasons was at 4.5 million, which changed little in June. These are people who want full-time work. Those not in the labor force but who want jobs stayed at 6 million.

The number of discouraged workers, those who believed no jobs were available for them, increased in June to 637,000, an increase of 256,000.

Other major industries, like mining, retail and transportation, showed little change over last month.

In response to the news, the stock market rose Thursday.

“The solid June jobs report confirms that the labor market remains resolute and slams the door shut on a July rate cut,” Jeff Schulze, head of economic and market strategy at ClearBridge Investments, told CNBC. “Today’s good news should be treated as such by the markets, with equities rising despite the accompanying pickup in interest rates.”

The U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to leave interest rates as they are.