The unemployment rate hit 6.9% in June, falling for the first time since January and coming in well below expectations for a M/M rise to 7.1%…

… thanks to an 83K gain in employment, driven mainly by part-time hires (+70K).

A large share of those hires showed up in retail trade, which carried the group on a sector level, accounting for nearly half of June’s gain.

While the print shaped up better than expected, the labour market outlook remains challenging, with more than one in five still stuck in long-term unemployment…

… and student unemployment (15-24) flirting with levels from previous recessionary periods.