US economy adds 157,000 jobs in July

WASHINGTON: The US economy added 157,000 jobs, and unemployment fell slightly to 3.9 per cent in July, the Labour Department reported on Friday.

The pace of job growth was below economists’ predictions that about 195,000 jobs would be added last month, but the Labour Department revised employment growth even higher for May and June, meaning the three-month average for job gains is 224,000, a very healthy pace at this stage of the recovery.

The US economy has added jobs for 94 consecutive months, a record streak that shows no signs of waning, despite President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war.

Many business leaders have warned that the standoffs with China, the European Union and other major trading partners could cause layoffs if tariffs stay in place for an extended period of time.

“The basic story of the labour market has been a slow and steady recovery of month after month of impressive jobs gains,” said Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute. “I don’t see today’s number as a disappointment: 157,000 job gains is still impressive, given where we are in the business cycle.”

Hiring remained solid in most industries in July. Blue- collar jobs have grown sharply, with manufacturing adding 327,000 positions in the past year and construction adding 308,000. Transportation, mining and fi nancial services did not hire much in July. Retail was also sluggish, with 7,000 job gains. Economists will be watching to see whether these industries rebound later in the year. But Americans are optimistic about the economy, largely because of the many “we’re hiring” signs seen across the nation. Wages remain the only red flag in the US labour market. Despite many company executives complaining that they cannot fi nd workers to fi ll open positions, wage growth remains sluggish. — WPBloomberg