US Economy Adds 943,000 Jobs in July, Far Exceeding Expectations
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the encouraging data on Aug. 6. Economists had predicted an addition of 870,000 jobs in July. Data for June was also updated and showed gains with 938,000 jobs added in that month. Economists seem optimistic about the U.S. economy’s recovery.
“I have yet to find a blemish in this jobs report”, said Jason Furman, Harvard Economist, via CNN.
16.7 million jobs have been added back to the market since May of last year. Also encouraging is the drop in the unemployment rate to 5.4 percent, the lowest since the onset of the pandemic. Close to one million people accepted a job in July.
The service industry continues to show significant signs of recovery, adding 253,000 jobs for the month. The labor force participation rate and the employment-population ratio still remain below pre-pandemic levels. indicating that the U.S. economy has a ways to go to reach full recovery.
Cailin Birch, Global Economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit, via CNN said, “The stagnant participation rate confirms that there are millions of potential workers who are still outside the labor force not currently looking for work and therefore not counted among the unemployed”.
The extent to which the Delta variant will affect the U.S. labor market in August remains to be seen.
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