US adds 1.8m jobs as recovery slows
THE US added 1.8 million jobs in July, down from the gains of May and June and evidence the resurgent coronavirus is weakening hiring and the economic rebound.
Many employers have been reluctant or unable to hire, with about two thirds of the nation having paused or reversed reopening plans early last month.
Counting the hiring of the past three months, the economy has recovered only about 42% of the 22 million jobs it lost to the pandemic-induced recession, according to the Labour Department’s jobs report released yesterday.
The unemployment rate fell last month from 11.1% to 10.2%, though that still exceeds the highest rate during the 2008-2009 recession.
The acceleration of the viral outbreak that began in late June more than doubled the daily US confirmed case count by mid-july. The rate of new reported cases has since declined but the outbreaks have led many states and cities to close bars and other businesses for a second time and have dampened confidence, causing many consumers to limit their shopping, travelling, eating out and gathering in crowds.
July’s job gain was much lower than June’s 4.8 million and May’s 2.7 million jobs added, both of which were revised slightly.
Hiring was weaker in a range of industries last month.
Manufacturing added just 26,000 jobs, less than 10% of its June gain.
Restaurants, bars, hotels and entertainment venues gained 592,000, just a quarter of the June increase. Retailers added 258,000 jobs, down from more than 800,000 in June.
The economy is struggling to emerge from the recession that caused the economy to shrink at a nearly 33% annual rate in the Apriljune quarter, the worst quarterly fall on record. Employers slashed their numbers, consumers cut spending and corporations pulled back on investment and expansion.
The economy has since started to grow again and many economists have forecast a solid rebound in the July-september quarter, though not nearly enough to offset the second quarter’s fall. Yesterday’s report showed 16.3 million people were unemployed in July – nearly triple the 5.9 million who were out of work before the pandemic.
Meanwhile, a top US Senate Democrat said yesterday, after nearly two weeks of politicians’ talks with the White House failed to make substantial progress, that President Donald Trump cannot solve the need for corona virus related aid by himself.
Dick Durbin, told reporters: “We have got to come together, we’ve got to do it in Congress.”
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, both Democrats, have been meeting for nearly two weeks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Pelosi and Schumer urged the White House to join them again yesterday in talks on proposals for coronavirus relief.