House Nears Final Vote on Trump Megabill; US Employers Added 147,000 Jobs in June

U.S. employers added 147,000 jobs in June as the American labor market continues to show surprising resilience. The unemployment rate ticked down 4.1% from 4.2% in May, the Labor Department said Thursday. Hiring rose modestly from a revised 144,000 in May and beat economists’ expectations of fewer than 118,000 new jobs and a rise in the unemployment rate.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump will meet at the White House on Thursday with Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, who was released in May. Alexander, now 21, is an American-Israeli from New Jersey. The soldier was 19 when Hamas terrorists stormed his base in Israel and kidnapped him into the Gaza Strip. Alexander moved to Israel in 2022 after finishing high school and enlisted in the military.