Ticker: Cooler hiring in June could help the Fed achieve an elusive ‘soft landing’ for US economy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Another month, another solid gain for America’s job market.

The pace of hiring by businesses and government agencies in June — 209,000 added jobs — was the smallest monthly gain in 2 1/2 years. Yet it was still a healthy increase, enough to reduce the unemployment rate from 3.7% to 3.6%, barely above a half-century low.

And it amounted to further evidence of an economy that has defied persistent forecasts of a recession. The latest sign of economic strength makes it all but certain that the Federal Reserve will resume its interest rate hikes later this month after having ended a streak of 10 rate increases that were intended to curb high inflation.

New Hampshire bans boycotts of Israel in state procurement and investments

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire has followed dozens of other states in prohibiting state contracts or investments involving companies that boycott Israel and its trade partners.

The Israeli-American Coalition for Action says the executive order signed by Gov. Chris Sununu on Thursday makes New Hampshire the 37th state to enact such regulations. The coalition praised the order, while the Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned it as “a total assault on our First Amendment rights.”

CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, has successfully challenged similar regulations in other states. Sununu was joined at the signing by Israel’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Gilad Erdan.