Job growth in the financial services sector helped the USA economy add 255,000 jobs in July as the overall unemployment rate held at 4.9 percent, according to new Labor Department data released Friday.
Advertisement
The new numbers were also accompanied by upward revisions for the months of May and June in a sign that the job markets were healthier than previously thought.
Overall, total nonfarm payroll employment grew 255,000 in July, and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.9 percent.
The year-over-year growth rate for temporary jobs in the United States ticked up to 1.9% in July. Asian stocks were mixed Friday following a British interest rate cut as investors looked ahead to US data that are expected to show faster job growth in July.
The U.S. construction industry added 14,000 new jobs in July, with nonresidential sector seeing the biggest gains, according to a new report.
Businesses added 217,000 jobs, led by professional and business services, health care and finance.
But the July jobs report will reinforce beliefs that the hugely disappointing May jobs report was a blip, and that the long-term trend shows the us economy to be on a trajectory of robust growth. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.6%. Job openings remain near a record high.
“It’s rare to have a jobs report with a strong headline, yet so few blemishes in the details, and we got one today”, said Doug Duncan, chief economist for Fannie Mae.
Employment gains blew past Wall Street expectations.
Solid hiring occurred last month across a range of industries, including middle- and high-wage jobs, one factor that likely increased average pay.
The jobless rate for post-9/11 veterans, called Gulf War II-era veterans by the BLS, was pegged at 5.9 percent, up from 4.4 percent in June and 4.0 percent in May. A far more inclusive measure of joblessness in America is the U6 unemployment figure, which includes all of those unemployed in the headline number plus those discouraged workers and people forced to work temporary jobs when they’d much rather full-time work. Bank stocks rose on the prospect of higher interest rates and consumer companies rose as investors hope consumers will have more money to spend. Those earning from $12.50 to $20 an hour have received the next-biggest increase, at just above 3 percent. Arkansas’ unemployment rate in June was 3.8 percent.
Advertisement
That, in addition to continued improvement in wage growth, puts a Fed rate hike back on the table for 2016. The IT sector recorded its second consecutive month of job growth, although at a significantly slower pace than in the prior month. IT occupation employment declined by 88,000 jobs in July, down 1.9 percent.
