The U.S. economy added 528,000 jobs in June, according to Department of Labor (DOL) data released Friday, more than double economists’ projections of 250,000 new jobs.

The unemployment rate edged down to 3.5%, according to the DOL’s report, which was also below  economists’ predictions of 3.6%, according to The Wall Street Journal. The economy outperformed last month’s high job growth of 372,000, which had itselef outpaced expectations, indicating that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate have not begun to cool off the economy.

Job gains in July were reported across the economy, but were particularly high in the leisure and hospitality, professional and business services and health care sectors. The labor force participation rate of 62.1% remained below its February 2020 pre-pandemic level of 63.4%.

Over the last four months the average monthly gain was 388,000, according to the report.

Payroll employment rises by 528,000 in July; unemployment rate edges down to 3.5% https://t.co/1Y9cSWJUIB #JobsReport #BLSdata

— BLS-Labor Statistics (@BLS_gov) August 5, 2022

The U.S. economy has posted consecutive quarters of negative GDP, which some consider to be, by definition, a recession, according to previous DCNF reporting.

But the Biden administration and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell have argued that a strong labor market is one reason why the economy is not yet in a recession, since technically the National Bureau of Economic Research — the semi-official arbiter — defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months” and, among other things, looks at employment statistics to determine if that has happened.

“I do not think the U.S. is currently in a recession. And the reason is there are just too many areas of the economy that are performing too well. And of course, I would point to the labor market, in particular,” Powell said last week after the central bank raised interest rates by 0.75% to a new target range of 2.25% to 2.5%.

There are far more job openings that unemployed workers, according to a recent report from the National Federation of Independent Business, making it a very difficult time for businesses seeking to hire.

The White House did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.