An Economy-Watcher’s Guide to Jobs Data: Hiring Breadth, Income

Here’s what to look when the Labor Department releases the June U.S. employment report today at 8:30 a.m. in Washington.

-- Payrolls and the jobless rate: The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists projects employers added 215,000 workers last month after a 217,000 gain in May. It would mark the fifth consecutive month of payroll gains in excess of 200,000 -- the first time that’s happened since a similar stretch ended in January 2000. The jobless rate is projected to hold at an almost six-year low of 6.3 percent.