Current:Home > InvestEmployers add 187,000 jobs as hiring remains solid-VaTradeCoin
Employers add 187,000 jobs as hiring remains solid
lotradecoin decentralized exchange features View Date:2024-12-25 23:09:30
U.S. businesses added 187,000 jobs in July, keeping pace with June's solid hiring as employers sought to add staff amid a tight labor market.
Hiring was slightly below the expectation from analysts polled by FactSet that employers had added 200,000 new jobs last month. The unemployment rate edged down to 3.5% from 3.6% in June, the Labor Department said on Friday.
Even so, job growth has become more muted than earlier this year, partly as the Federal Reserve has sharply boosted interest rates over the past year, making it costlier for businesses to expand. Even though hiring is cooling, employers are still adding new jobs, easing some concerns that the interest rate hikes could tip the economy into a recession.
"The U.S. jobs report was near expectations for July, but the labor market is softening as many employers navigate changing circumstances," said Eric Merlis, managing director and co-head of global markets at Citizens, in a Friday email.
He added, "As the Fed works to curb inflation by raising rates to slow the economy, monthly jobs numbers provide a key measure of the impact and they continue to show the resilience of the economy."
July's data marks a slowdown from the average monthly hiring over the prior 12 months, when employers on average added 312,000 new positions each month, the Labor Department said. Businesses added jobs last month in health care, social assistance, financial activities and wholesale trade.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is monitoring the economy for signs that inflation, which hit a four-decade high last year, is tempering in response to its series of interest rate hikes. The central bank wants to guide inflation downward to a 2% rate, although in June it stood at 3.1%, still above that goal.
"Slower job growth in July could be a welcome sign for the Fed, as they seek to prevent a wage-price spiral, where higher wages due to the low supply of workers lead to increased costs for companies that may subsequently pass on higher prices to consumers," noted Stephen J. Rich, CEO of Mutual of America Capital Management, in a Friday email.
Wages rose 0.4% in July, to an hourly average of $33.74, the Labor Department said on Friday. That matched June's wage increase, and was slightly higher than the 0.3% increase expected by some analysts. On an annual basis, average earnings in July increased 4.4% from a year earlier, with wage growth ticking up for production and non-supervisory workers, who make up about 82% of the workforce.
"[W]ages did not ease as expected, which will be disappointing to policymakers," noted Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.
In June, businesses added about 209,000 jobs, although the Labor Department revised the number downwards to 185,000 jobs on Friday.
veryGood! (54338)
Related
- Taylor Swift makes history as most decorated artist at Billboard Music Awards
- Trump endorses Republican rivals in swing state Arizona congressional primary
- August execution date set for Florida man involved in 1994 killing and rape in national forest
- Redemption tour for USA men's volleyball off to a good start at Paris Olympics
- Trump will be honored as Time’s Person of the Year and ring the New York Stock Exchange bell
- BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Maserati among 313K vehicles recalled: Check car recalls here
- ‘Vance Profits, We Pay The Price’: Sunrise Movement Protests J.D. Vance Over Billionaire Influence and Calls on Kamala Harris to Take Climate Action
- New Mexico gets OK to seek $675M in federal grant to expand high-speed internet across the state
- California judges say they’re underpaid, and their new lawsuit could cost taxpayers millions
- US golf team's Olympic threads could be divisive. That's the point
Ranking
- A Malibu wildfire prompts evacuation orders and warnings for 20,000, including Dick Van Dyke, Cher
- ‘Vance Profits, We Pay The Price’: Sunrise Movement Protests J.D. Vance Over Billionaire Influence and Calls on Kamala Harris to Take Climate Action
- Walmart Fashion Finds That Look Expensive, Starting at Only $8
- Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins roar through impressive sets after rain hits tour opener
- Mystery drones are swarming New Jersey skies, but can you shoot them down?
- Boar's Head faces first suit in fatal listeria outbreak after 88-year-old fell 'deathly ill'
- Watch as rescuers save Georgia man who fell down 50-foot well while looking for phone
- Son of drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’ pleads not guilty to drug trafficking charges in Chicago
Recommendation
-
Most reports ordered by California’s Legislature this year are shown as missing
-
Olympic medals today: What is the medal count at 2024 Paris Games on Tuesday?
-
Olympics 2024: Men's Triathlon Postponed Due to Unsafe Levels of Fecal Matter in Seine River
-
New Mexico gets OK to seek $675M in federal grant to expand high-speed internet across the state
-
Our 12 favorites moments of 2024
-
How Harris and Trump differ on artificial intelligence policy
-
Taylor Swift 'at a complete loss' after UK mass stabbing leaves 3 children dead
-
Michigan Supreme Court decision will likely strike hundreds from sex-offender registry