June's gain of 57,000 jobs failed to meet economists' expectations, with payroll growth cooling after months of growth. Still, the labor market appeared to be on steady footing, with the unemployment rate sliding to 4.2%. But look under the hood of Thursday's jobs report, and there's some evidence that this remains a tough — or at least weird — labor market for job-seekers. Long-term unemployment — the measure of those who have been out of work at least 27 weeks as a share of the total number of jobless people — dipped a tad in June but is holding above 27%. Outside of the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery, long-term ... (full story)