US job growth outpaced expectations in June, signaling continued strength in the labor market and diminishing the likelihood of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this month.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that the US economy added 147,000 jobs in June, beating the 110,000 gain forecast by economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal.

The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%, down from 4.2% in May.

According to the Labor Department’s report, health care remained a strong contributor to job growth, consistent with its historic resilience across economic cycles.

State and local governments also boosted hiring, helping offset a decline of 7,000 jobs in federal government employment. In total, government employment rose by 73,000 jobs.

Revisions to prior months also showed stronger hiring than previously reported. April and May job gains were revised upward by a combined 16,000 jobs.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt touted Thursday’s strong jobs numbers, writing on X: “For the FOURTH month in a row, jobs numbers have beat market expectations with nearly 150,000 good jobs created in June.”

“American-born workers have accounted for ALL of the job gains since President Trump took office and wages continue to rise. The economy is BOOMING again and it will only get better when the One, Big Beautiful Bill is passed and implemented!”

The administration’s crackdown on undocumented migrants has helped reverse the trend under his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, that had seen foreign-born workers contribute roughly as much or more to overall employment and labor force growth than those born in the US.

Since February — the first full month of Trump’s second term — through June, employment among those born here rose by 2.1 million, while employment among foreign-born workers dropped by more than half a million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That’s the largest February-through-June slide in foreign-born employment since at least the first year of Democrat Barack Obama’s presidency.

Wall Street cheered the latest jobs data, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping 344 points to 44,828 — less than 200 points off its all-time high.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq continued to extend their record-setting runs. The broad-based S&P 500 closed at 6,279, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq finished at 20,601.

The unexpected strength of the report is expected to influence the Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rates.

Many analysts had speculated that the central bank could move toward a rate cut at its July meeting, but the data may delay any such action.

“Today’s jobs report was much better than expected, especially coming on the heels of a disappointing ADP employment report yesterday,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Northlight Asset Management in Charlotte, NC.

“Given the strong jobs numbers along with the extension of tax cuts and potentially higher tariff levels (once the 90-day pause expires), the Fed is much less likely to cut rates this month than many were talking about earlier this week,” Zaccarelli said.

He added that instead of cutting in July, “the Fed is likely to wait until later in this quarter or even until the fourth quarter before they cut interest rates.”

That won’t please President Trump, who who has been critical of Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Trump has given him the moniker “too late” over what is perceived as his over-cautious approach to slashing interest rates.

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Trump also criticized the broader Fed board, insisting rates should already be 2 to 3 points lower and calling current policy politically motivated.

“President Trump is turbocharging America’s economic resurgence with rapid deregulation, domestic energy production, and the pro-growth provisions of The One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai told The Post in an emailed statement.

“It’s high time for monetary policy to complement this policy agenda.”

The Fed declined to comment.

With the Fed potentially on hold, Zaccarelli noted that investor focus is likely to shift away from macroeconomic concerns and toward the upcoming earnings season.

“The stock market is likely to ignore the greater macroeconomic picture in the short run and focus much more on corporate earnings, which will kickoff in less than two weeks (e.g. on 7/15),” he said.

Zaccarelli also raised a note of caution about stock valuations.

“We have been encouraged by the rapid recovery of the stock market these past three months,” he said, “but are concerned that valuations are high.”

Zaccarelli noted that valuations, or the price-to-earnings ratios of the stock market, are currently 22 times earnings, which is significantly higher than the 30-year average of 17 times earnings.

He added that another negative sign for the markets is that “a lot of the good news” such as tax cuts, deregulation and lower-than-feared tariff levels “is already priced in, so the market is much more vulnerable to negative surprises at this point.”

With Post wires