US adds 4.8 million jobs as unemployment falls to 11.1%

WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. employers added a substantial 4.8 million jobs in June, and the unemployment rate fell to 11.1%, as the job market improved for a second straight month yet remained far short of regaining the colossal losses it suffered this spring.

The nation has now recovered roughly one-third of the 22 million jobs it lost to the pandemic recession.

And with confirmed coronavirus cases spiking across the Sun Belt states, a range of evidence suggests that a job market recovery may be stalling.

In those states and elsewhere, some restaurants, bars and other retailers that had re-opened are being forced to close again.