Good morning and happy Friday, Daily Money readers. It’s Jayme Deerwester, here with some good news.
Employers added 372,000 jobs in June as the sizzling labor market shrugged off a slowing economy, high inflation and rising interest rates The unemployment rate held at 3.6% for the fourth straight month, the Labor Department said Friday.
As a result, employment growth moderated to a still-robust average of 383,000 jobs a month in the spring from about 600,000 the prior three months as the nation drew closer to recovering all 22 million jobs lost in the pandemic. It has now recouped 21.5 million, or 97.6%, and could reclaim the rest in the next couple of months.
In June, professional and business services led will the job gains with 74,000 jobs. Leisure and hospitality, which includes restaurants and bars, the sector hit hardest by COVID-19, added 67,000; health care, 57,000; transportation and warehousing, 36,000; and manufacturing, 29,000.
For now, the economy remains on solid footing as it continues to benefit from a resumption of travel and other activities and massive household savings built up during the health crisis.
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Hate crowds? Make tracks for these national parks
Want to experience the great outdoors without crowds this summer? Consider these lesser-known, untapped national parks that had the least visitors in 2021.
There are 63 national parks in the U.S and 423 national park sites, which include nature preserves, roadways and historic sites like battlefields and monuments. But even with vast options, 25% of total recreation visits occurred at the top eight most-visited parks, which accounts for just 2% of all parks in the National Park System.
“We’re happy to see so many visitors returning to iconic parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite, but there are hundreds more that should be on everyone’s bucket list,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams in a February news release.
Some parks are hard to reach: In fact like Alaska’s Gates of the Arctic – the least-visited national park last year, with 7,362 recreational visits – or National Park of American Samoa, the second least visited national park, with 8,495 visitors in 2021.
Luckily, you don’t have to go quite that far to find some peace and quiet. If you’re looking for some hidden gems with less traffic on the hiking trail, be sure to add these 10 less-recognized national parks to your list.
- Kobuk Valley, Alaska
- North Cascades, Washington
- Lake Clark, Alaska
- Isle Royale, Michigan
- Greenbelt Park, Maryland
- Wrangell-St. Elias, Alaska
- Dry Tortugas, Florida
- Glacier Bay, Alaska
- Great Basin, Nevada
- Congaree, South Carolina
Even the busiest one on the list, South Carolina’s Congaree National Park, only saw about 215,000 visitors in 2021. That may sound like a lot – until you compare it with Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which got 14 million.
🎧 Mood music 🎧
If you ever did shift work (which, technically, journalists still kind of do since newsrooms have to be staffed 24/7), you can appreciate these lyrics from Kenny Chesney and George Strait.
“Shift work, tough work. For the busy convenience store clerk, two feet that hurt, going insane. She’s mad at some lad. Drove off and didn’t pay for his gas and he won’t be the last. ‘Round the clock pain. Workin’ 7 to 3, 3 to 11, 11 to 7.”
About The Daily Money
Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer news from USA TODAY. We break down financial news and provide the TLDR version: how decisions by the Federal Reserve, government and companies impact you. It even comes with its own Spotify playlist. It features nearly every song quoted here.
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