The U.S. economy remained resilient in the month of July, with employers adding an additional 255,000 jobs to the workforce, beating expectations that new hiring would top out at 180,000. Employment for May was revised upward from 11,000 to 24,000 jobs added, while June’s numbers rose from 287,000 to 292,000 jobs added. Revisions made to the previous two months added 18,000 jobs overall to their totals, amounting to incremental changes.
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The average hourly earnings for employees in private non-farm payrolls did increase in the past month by eight cents to $25.69, rising 2.6% over the year. Average hourly earnings have increased 2.6 percent over the course of the year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Federal Reserve is looking for stronger pay increases and inflation as it weighs another interest rate hike.
Stocks surged, experts expressed more confidence that the Federal Reserve was likely to raise interest rates at least once this year, and it was evident that long-stagnant wages for ordinary workers were advancing at a more robust pace.
Most economists expect another rate increase in December.
But Friday’s report suggests the recovery is beginning to reach some of the groups that have struggled most in recent years.
The number of native-born Americans with a job also saw improvements last month. Professional and business services added 70,000 jobs in July, and have added 550,000 jobs over the past 12 months.
The unemployment rate, calculated from a separate survey of American households, was unchanged at 4.9% in July.
A tighter job market would also be expected to push up wages as employers compete over a diminishing pool of workers. The Latino unemployment rate fell from 5.8 percent to 5.4 percent, according to the National Council of La Raza’s jobs report.
The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9 per cent as more people entered the labour market.
Average wages jumped by 7 cents and now sits at $21.59 in the month of July.
In separate report, global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas said employers in the US announced plans to shed 45,346 workers from their payrolls in July, a 19 percent increase from June. The labor force participation rate ticked up one-tenth to 62.8 percent in July from 62.7% in June as those counted as not in the labor force decreased 184,000 to 94.3 million. To some extent, that decline is normal given that hiring slows the closer the U.S.is to full employment.
Other details of the employment report showed a rise in the labor force.
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Health care, which includes jobs at all pay levels, gained almost 49,000 new jobs.
