US Adds 255,000 Jobs in July; Construction Employment Steady

The construction sector added 14,000 jobs with the unemployment rate staying at 4.9%. May and June numbers were revised up for a net increase of 18,000 jobs.

Wall Street Journal
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U.S. employers hired at a steady pace in July, a sign of underlying strength for the labor market despite a host of mixed economic signals.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by a seasonally adjusted 255,000 last month, the Labor Department said Friday. Revisions showed U.S. employers added 18,000 more jobs in May and June than previously estimated.

Hiring figures have been strong for two consecutive months, though readings were choppy earlier in the year. So far in 2016, employment gains have averaged 186,000 a month, down from 229,000 a month in 2015.

A slowdown wouldn’t be a complete surprise: some policy makers and economists expect such moderation as the labor market tightens. 

A tighter job market would also be expected to push up wages as employers compete over a diminishing pool of workers. Average hourly earnings for private-sector workers rose by 8 cents, or 0.3%, from June to July to $25.69. From a year earlier, average hourly earnings were up 2.6%, outpacing inflation. The Consumer Price Index increased 1.1% in June from a year earlier.

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