The July jobs report just came in and the US added 528,000 jobs beating estimates of 258,000. Unemployment remains very low at 3.5%. Wages also surged higher, as average hourly earnings jumped 0.5% for the month and 5.2% from the same time a year ago fueling concerns about inflation that already has consumer prices rising at their fastest rate since the early 1980s.
Leisure and hospitality led the way in job gains with 96,000, followed by professional and business services with 89,000. Health care added 70,000 and government payrolls grew 57,000. Goods-producing industries also posted solid gains, with construction up 32,000 and manufacturing adding 30,000.
The U.S. economy shrank in the first two quarters of 2022 — an informal definition of recession. But most economists believe the strong jobs market has kept the economy from slipping into a downturn.
The resiliency of the current labor market, especially the low jobless rate — is the biggest reason most economists don’t believe a downturn has started yet, though they increasingly fear that one is on the way. History isn’t entirely reassuring: The unemployment rate was even lower — 3.5% — when an 11-month recession began in December 1969.
Recession is not an American problem alone…..nor is it a Joe Biden problem as the radicalized right like to say.
Read more on that topic at the Associated Press:
