On Thursday, the US Labor Department released its employment report for the month of June, and while last month’s stats of 223,000 new jobs created and a 5.3 percent unemployment rate were solid, the report all in all was far from spectacular, with wage statistics, among other figures, failing to impress. However, this drops against the background of less people actively searching for work and wages stagnating.
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The unemployment rate fell not because many people have found jobs, but because many unemployed people gave up on their job searches and were no longer counted as unemployed.
“The job market “remains consistent with a two-steps-forward, one-step-back expansion the US economy finds itself in”, said * a href=”http://www.memphisdailynews.com/Search/Search.aspx?redir=1&fn=Scott&ln=Andersen” class=”learn” rel=”.
The number of Americans looking for work has also gone down a fair deal and it has experienced a 38 year low. The robust hiring by the employers in June propagated the fall but the wages remained flat and recorded a mere 2% rise since the past 12 months.
With regards to the Federal Reserve’s plans to raise interest rates from near zero levels, this should fuel more debate regarding Fed Chair Janet L. Yellen’s next move.
” “After this report, I think it would make sense to wait until December to start that slow rate increase”, said * a href=”http://www.memphisdailynews.com/Search/Search.aspx?redir=1&fn=Tara&ln=Sinclair” class=”learn” rel=”.
A Fed increase would lead to higher rates for mortgages, auto loans and other borrowing.
The data also reveals a gloomy picture of the construction companies that added no jobs in June while the manufacturing industry gained just 4,000 positions. But health care added 53,000, and retailers 33,000.
But strong hiring has endured this year despite a miserable winter, which helped cause the economy to contract 0.2 percent at an annual rate in the January-March quarter. “We continue to look for the first rate hike in September“.
And in a positive note, Americans are finally spending more after boosting their savings earlier this year, in part because they’re growing more confident about the economy. This comes to complement last month’s Consumer Sentiment Index which reached its highest value since 2005, signaling great consumer trust in the economy overall.
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Auto sales and home sales have jumped to their highest levels since 2007.
