US Job Growth Picks Up With Help From Public Education Hiring

US job growth exceeded expectations in June as an unusual surge in public education employment masked a slowdown in hiring across the rest of the economy.

Payrolls increased 147,000 last month, driven by a jump in state and local government employment, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report out Thursday. The jobless rate declined to 4.1%, indicating employers remain reticent to lay off workers.