U.S. ADD SA ROBUST 209,000 TO PAYROLLS

And there’s little sign the labor market will cool off any time soon

U.S. payroll ss urged for the second consecutive month in July as employers added 209,000 jobs, underscoring that hiring remains robust despite a tight labor market making it tougher to find workers.

The unemployment rate, which is calculated from a different survey, fell to 4.3% from 4.4% as a big gain in employment offset a large rise in the number of Americans working or looking for jobs, the Labor Department said Friday.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected 180,000 payroll gains.

Average hourly wages rose 9 cents to $ 26.36, keeping annual gains unchanged at 2.5%. Earnings growth has picked up the past year or two from the 2% pace that marked most of the recovery. It has fallen from nearly 3% earlier in the year. Economists expected the low unemployment rate to prompt businesses to hike salaries more sharply as they struggle to find available workers.

In July, businesses added 205,000 jobs. Federal, state and local governments added 4,000.

Job gains for May and June were revised up by a modest 2,000. May’s was downgraded to 145,000 from 152,000, and June’s up to 231,000 from 222,000.

Leisure and hospitality led the broadbased payroll additions with 62,000 as employment swelled at restaurants and bars. Education and health services added 54,000 workers; professional and business services, 49,000; manufacturing, 16,000; and construction, 6,000.

The labor market has been volatile in recent months. Employment gains were lackluster in May because many college students who started jobs late in the month weren’t counted. That led to unexpectedly strong advances in June. Michael Gapen, chief U. S. economist of Barclays, said before Friday’s report was released that it probably would reflect this year’s overall trend more accurately.

That trend has revealed a modest slowing in average monthly job gains to a stillsturdy 184,000 from 187,000 last year and 226,000 in 2015. Economists pointed to the low unemployment rate making it harder for employers to find available workers. Many analysts expected the tight market to reduce monthly job additions more sharply to 160,000 to 170,000. Instead, hiring may be bolstered by discouraged workers resuming searches in the improved market, providing businesses a shadow labor force, some economists said.

“Plentiful jobs could still be pulling people into the labor market from the sidelines,” said Scott Anderson, chief economist at Bank of the West. That, and other factors, could temper pay increases that should be accelerating more substantially as employers bid up to attract a smaller pool of workers.

There’s little sign the labor market is about to cool. Employers brought on 14,700 temporary workers from staffing agencies, typically a sign they plan to add more permanent employees soon.