Dismal Jobs Report for June

By SBE Council at 3 July, 2026, 3:31 pm

by Raymond J. Keating –

No matter how various talking heads try to explain away the June employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there’s no way getting around that this was an unabashedly negative jobs report.

First, the headline from the establishment survey estimated that the nonfarm payroll employment number changed little, with a gain of 57,000 in June.

Second, the data from the household survey (which better captures startup and small business activity) were terrible.

The labor force plummeted by 720,000 in June, with the labor force participation rate declining from 61.8 percent in May to 61.5 percent in June. That compared to 62.3 percent a year earlier.

Employment decreased by 507,000, with the employment-population ratio dropping from 59.2 percent to 59.0 percent. That compared to 59.7 percent in June of last year.

For good measure, those not in the labor force skyrocketed by 832,000 in June.

The self-employment numbers were also down. Focusing on data that is not seasonally adjusted, unincorporated self-employed came in at 9.53 million in June, which compared to 9.79 million in June of last year. And incorporated self-employed (this data doesn’t come seasonally adjusted) registered 6.93 million in June 2026 versus 7.05 million in June 2025.

Indeed, it’s a grim report amidst an underperforming U.S. economy. Perhaps policymakers in Washington and in the states should get more serious about policies that will provide a true foundation for economic, income and employment growth.

However, it must be recognized that many state lawmakers have done exactly that – to their credit and to the benefit of their respective states – while others have worked in the opposite direction. The pro-growth, pro-entrepreneurship, pro-small-business agenda is no secret. It features lowering income and capital gains tax rates, comprehensive regulatory relief and reform, reining in government spending, getting out of the industrial policy game of subsidies and political favoritism, protecting property rights, and, on the federal front, pushing aside protectionism by embracing an immigration policy that welcomes those seeking to work and start businesses, and reducing government-imposed costs by getting the U.S. back to leading the globe in advancing free trade.

Raymond J. Keating is chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. He is the author of “The Weekly Economist” book series, and 10 Points from Walt Disney on Entrepreneurship.