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Let the good times roll -- 249,000 new jobs!
With 42,000 in upward revisions for May and June and 207,000 new jobs for July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced 249,000 new jobs in the US today. This brings the average number of new jobs to 191,000 per month so far this year.
The vast majority of these jobs are in the private sector, and those jobs that have been added by governments are mostly in education.
Rock on.
The vast majority of these jobs are in the private sector, and those jobs that have been added by governments are mostly in education.
Rock on.
WRAPUP 1-U.S. jobs growth unexpectedly strong in July
Fri Aug 5, 2005 9:03 AM ET
By Tim Ahmann
WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - U.S. job growth picked up last month as employers added 207,000 workers to their payrolls, a healthy gain that outstripped Wall Street expectations, a government report showed on Friday.
The unemployment rate held steady at the 2-3/4-year low of 5 percent reached in June, the Labor Department said.
The payrolls gain, spurred on by service-sector hiring, was stronger than expected by economists who had looked for an increase of 183,000 with the jobless rate steady.
"This is a crystal clear indication that the labor markets are very healthy and it reinforces the notion that the economy is growing in a healthy, sustainable way," said Dana Johnson, chief economist at Comerica in Detroit.
Prices for U.S. government bonds fell on the data and the dollar edged higher. Stocks futures were little changed.
While some economists thought the report might be skewed by Hurricane Dennis, which battered the Florida panhandle in mid-July, the department said the storm appeared to have no discernible impact on the figures.
A net upward revision of 42,000 to the combined job count for May and June contributed to the report's solid tenor. U.S. employers added 166,000 workers in June and 126,000 in May.
The pickup in job growth last month pushed this year's average monthly payroll gain to 191,000, a pace economists see as strong enough to slowly tighten the labor market.
The factory sector, which shed 4,000 workers last month, was one of the only weak spots. However, the Labor Department noted that an 11,000-job drop in auto manufacturing reflected larger-than-normal temporary plant shutdowns for retooling.
This was the last piece of significant economic data that Federal Reserve policy-makers will have to mull when they meet on Tuesday to set interest rates.
The Fed, which has raised the benchmark overnight lending rate at each of its last nine meetings, is widely expected to bump it up another quarter-percentage point to 3.5 percent next week.
Financial markets see the rate hitting 4 percent by year end, although the jobs report had some betting it could move even higher.
"The Fed is going to keep chugging along," said Robert MacIntosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance Management in Boston.
Average hourly earnings shot up six cents, or 0.4 percent, in July -- the biggest rise in a year. However, earnings are up just 2.7 percent over the past 12 months, suggesting wages have yet to become a big inflationary concern.
The service side of the economy created the lion's share of the jobs. Retailers added 50,000 workers, in part reflecting job growth at automobile dealers hiring to cope with a surge of shoppers enticed by special sales incentives.
The U.S. economy grew a solid 3.4 percent in the second quarter and would have turned in an even stronger performance if producers had not sold off inventories to meet strong demand. With inventories lean, producers are expected to bump up production in the current third quarter.
Fri Aug 5, 2005 9:03 AM ET
By Tim Ahmann
WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - U.S. job growth picked up last month as employers added 207,000 workers to their payrolls, a healthy gain that outstripped Wall Street expectations, a government report showed on Friday.
The unemployment rate held steady at the 2-3/4-year low of 5 percent reached in June, the Labor Department said.
The payrolls gain, spurred on by service-sector hiring, was stronger than expected by economists who had looked for an increase of 183,000 with the jobless rate steady.
"This is a crystal clear indication that the labor markets are very healthy and it reinforces the notion that the economy is growing in a healthy, sustainable way," said Dana Johnson, chief economist at Comerica in Detroit.
Prices for U.S. government bonds fell on the data and the dollar edged higher. Stocks futures were little changed.
While some economists thought the report might be skewed by Hurricane Dennis, which battered the Florida panhandle in mid-July, the department said the storm appeared to have no discernible impact on the figures.
A net upward revision of 42,000 to the combined job count for May and June contributed to the report's solid tenor. U.S. employers added 166,000 workers in June and 126,000 in May.
The pickup in job growth last month pushed this year's average monthly payroll gain to 191,000, a pace economists see as strong enough to slowly tighten the labor market.
The factory sector, which shed 4,000 workers last month, was one of the only weak spots. However, the Labor Department noted that an 11,000-job drop in auto manufacturing reflected larger-than-normal temporary plant shutdowns for retooling.
This was the last piece of significant economic data that Federal Reserve policy-makers will have to mull when they meet on Tuesday to set interest rates.
The Fed, which has raised the benchmark overnight lending rate at each of its last nine meetings, is widely expected to bump it up another quarter-percentage point to 3.5 percent next week.
Financial markets see the rate hitting 4 percent by year end, although the jobs report had some betting it could move even higher.
"The Fed is going to keep chugging along," said Robert MacIntosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance Management in Boston.
Average hourly earnings shot up six cents, or 0.4 percent, in July -- the biggest rise in a year. However, earnings are up just 2.7 percent over the past 12 months, suggesting wages have yet to become a big inflationary concern.
The service side of the economy created the lion's share of the jobs. Retailers added 50,000 workers, in part reflecting job growth at automobile dealers hiring to cope with a surge of shoppers enticed by special sales incentives.
The U.S. economy grew a solid 3.4 percent in the second quarter and would have turned in an even stronger performance if producers had not sold off inventories to meet strong demand. With inventories lean, producers are expected to bump up production in the current third quarter.
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