CNBC — 2026-07-02#

Lead Story#

The U.S. economy added just 57,000 jobs in June, well below the 115,000 expected, prompting the Dow Jones Industrial Average to surge 594 points to a record close of 52,900.07 on hopes for a near-term Fed rate cut. The unemployment rate actually ticked down to 4.2%, but only because a massive 720,000 workers exited the labor force, pushing the participation rate to 61.5%—the lowest in 50 years when excluding the pandemic era.