“Steve continues to look forward to returning at the end of June, and there’s nothing further to say.”

– Apple spokeswoman Katie Cotton

A quote from Steve Jobs in an Apple press release this morning and a handful of media reports claiming he has been spotted at Apple HQ over the past few days are raising hopes that the CEO may have officially returned to work.

It’s not clear yet whether these sightings are freak occurrences or if Jobs has indeed come back to work full-time, but we are nearing the end of June, the date at which his medical leave from the company was to conclude. Certainly, it’s conceivable that he’s slowly ramping up for a formal return.

Apple (AAPL) has not yet returned a request for comment.