The U.S. economy created a record 4.8 million jobs in June as more restaurants and bars resumed operations, but layoffs remained elevated and raging COVID-19 cases across the country threaten the fledgling recovery. The flare-up in coronavirus infections, which started in late June, was not captured in the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly employment report published on Thursday as the government surveyed businesses in the middle of the month. The reopening of businesses after being shuttered in mid-March has unleashed a wave of coronavirus infections in large parts of the country, including the populous California, Florida and Texas. Several states are scaling back or pausing reopenings, and sending some workers back home. Still, the rebound in hiring added to a stream of data, including consumer spending, in suggesting that the recession which started in February was likely over. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell this week acknowledged […]