The U.S. Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate remained flat at 5.3 percent in July – but does that figure tell the real story? Over that time, the number of unemployed persons increased to 33,000 from 25,800.
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Quebec’s provincial unemployment rate in July was 7.7 per cent, which was 0.3 percentage points lower than in June but still above a national unemployment rate that has been locked at 6.8 per cent since February.
A broad measure of joblessness that includes people who want to work but have given up searching and those working part-time because they can not find full-time employment fell to 10.4% last month, the lowest since June 2008, from 10.5% in June. The Fed last month upgraded its assessment of the labor market, describing it as continuing to “improve, with solid job gains and declining unemployment”.
The biggest increase was found in business, building and other support services, where 18,900 jobs were added. The nation’s public administration also swelled.
Friday’s report showed a drop of 8,300 jobs in construction during June and a loss of 4,600 workers in manufacturing.
Health care added 28,000 jobs in July and 436,000 jobs over the year.
Nova Scotia saw an increase of 5,200 full-time jobs but lost 2,100 part-time jobs.
The number of unemployed was unchanged at 8.3 million.
Economists are also carefully monitoring employment among the much-talked about “millennial” demographic, which many have pointed to as a key driver of growth in the housing market for the next few years.
The shocking female jobs statistic comes as the U.S. provides some 1 million green cards to new permanent immigrants, along with 700,000 foreign workers visas, and accepts 70,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, and half a million foreign students.
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“I think it’s a sign of progress that we’re seeing decent job gains every month”, Scott Anderson, chief economist at Bank of the West, told The Washington Post.
