In total, job creation in May and June was 18,000 more than first reported.
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Hospitality and food, leisure, professional business services, financial activities and healthcare were the strongest sectors. Government employment increased by 38,000 jobs.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by a tenth of an hour to 34.5 hours in July. Heavy and civil engineering employment, which lost 8,800 jobs from January to June, experienced a modest rebound in July by adding 1,900 net new jobs.
Payrolls expanded by 255,000 in July, according to the Department of Labor, after growing by an upwardly revised 292,000 in June. At the Federal Open Market Committee’s July meeting, interest rates were left unchanged after a stellar June jobs report. In a report published today, Bank of America said that if other economic data continue to improve on top of the jobs number, a December rate hike is likely.
The Federal Reserve is looking for stronger pay increases and inflation before lifting interest rates again. Duncan said “the report gives support to those on the Fed hoping to increase rates this year, especially if the numbers are supported in future releases”.
May’s unexpectedly gloomy report-only 24,000 jobs were added that month-is fast fading as something to worry about.
One reason for the difference is that parts of the economy are still suffering from the continuing fallout from low oil prices as energy companies cut back on investment.
GDP in the USA grew at an annual rate of only 1.2%, according to an advance estimate released last week.
Before Friday, it was unclear whether cutbacks in spending by businesses extended to jobs.
In July, health care employment increased by 43,000, with gains in ambulatory health care services (+19,000), hospitals (+17,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+7,000).
Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu said the data “was most welcome”.
“Strong job growth is clearly a positive sign, said the Collingwood Group Managing Director Tom Booker”.
It is not unusual for the carmakers to shut down their plants for a week or two in July due to a slowdown in demand.
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Anyone who thought healthcare hiring might finally slow down will have to wait at least another month. So far this year growth has averaged about 1%. So far in 2016 employment gains have averaged 186,000 per month, down from 229,000 per month in 2015. The college-level unemployment was also unchanged in July from June at 2.5%.
