WASHINGTON — The U.S. July employment report was on the strong side.
Nonfarm payrolls posted a 215,000 increase and June-May revisions totaled a 14,000 rise. This was in line with expectations.
Average hourly earnings posted a five cent gain or a 0.2% increase for a 2.1% climb over the year. Hours gained, so income and production will rise in upcoming reports.
The unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.3%, and labor force participation was also unchanged at 62.6%. Unemployment dipped a little before rounding.
Jobs composition included: manufacturing up 15,000, construction up 6,000, retail up 35,900, temporary down 8,900, leisure up 30,000, healthcare up 30,100, and finance up 17,000. This was a good report with broad gains.
Unadjusted jobs fell more than 1 million, and local education jobs fell 1.2 million before adjustment. This merely reflects school closings for summer, and on net adjusted government jobs were up 5,000 and 3,500 for local government education.
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