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On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department reported the economy added 288,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate fell to 6.1, the lowest since September 2008.

This report was better than expected and the fifth straight month of over 200,000 jobs being created since 1999.

Market Watch reported the strong jobs report is further evidence the economy continues to build momentum after an surprising rough patch in the first quarter, when U.S. growth contracted by 2.9%. The first-quarter decline marked the steepest drop in growth outside of a recession since 1947, but economists chalk it up to an a particularly harsh winter and other unusual factors that are unlikely to be repeated soon.

“The marked acceleration in the pace of job creation in the second quarter is further evidence that the economy gathered a bit of momentum after a soft entry to the year,” said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors.

The New York Times reported the drop in the unemployment rate to near 6 percent comes months earlier than the Fed had expected; the central bank had predicted it would take until the end of the year for the rate to reach that level. The Fed’s program of buying bonds to stimulate the economy is set to end in October, but most economists have been predicting the first increases in short-term interest rates would not come until the summer or early fall of 2015.

The president and his administration seized on the strong jobs number as proof their economic policies are working.

“This is one of the strongest reports we’ve seen since the end of the recession,” said Thomas E. Perez, the Secretary of Labor. “There was good job creation in high-wage, mid-wage and low-wage positions. It was broad-based.”

Republicans were quick to remind everyone the labor participation rate remains historically low at 62.8 percent the lowest level since 1978.

“Today’s strong jobs report comes as a welcome relief to Americans on Main Street,” said Rep. Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican who serves as chairman of the Joint Economic Committee. However, he said, “The decline in the unemployment rate is largely a mirage created by the decline in labor force participation rates.”

 

“I am deeply concerned by the continuing low level of labor force participation in the Obama economy, especially among those in their prime working years,” Mr. Brady said. “This trend is both unhealthy for the nation’s economic future and unsustainable.”

One troubling aspect of this report is the number of part time works increased and the low labor participation rate.

The Labor Department in its break down of the report stated, the number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) increased by 275,000 in June to 7.5 million.  The number of involuntary part-time workers is down over the year but has shown no clear trend in recent months. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

This was a better report then most economists had predicted, but the labor participation rate and the increase of part time workers are a grave concern moving forward.

By September we will have a better gauge of the true strength of the U.S. economy, but other factors could derail the growth of the economy; with the most notable one being the continued implementation of the Affordable Care Act.