Employment Stats: US job growth keeps Fed rate on track
The economy added 215,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday
WASHINGTON:
The US economy churned out solid job growth in July that looks likely to leave the Federal Reserve on track for an interest rate increase this year. The economy added 215,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday, marking 65 straight months of gains-the longest streak on record-for a total of 13 million jobs. “In the last six years the American people have worked really hard to bounce back from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” President Barack Obama said. In another positive sign, job growth in May and June was stronger than first thought, by a combined 14,000 payrolls. The department revised the number in June to 231,000 and in May to 260,000. That brought the average monthly jobs gains to 235,000 over the past three months, heightening expectations that the Fed could raise its near-zero federal funds rate as early as next month.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2015.
The US economy churned out solid job growth in July that looks likely to leave the Federal Reserve on track for an interest rate increase this year. The economy added 215,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday, marking 65 straight months of gains-the longest streak on record-for a total of 13 million jobs. “In the last six years the American people have worked really hard to bounce back from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” President Barack Obama said. In another positive sign, job growth in May and June was stronger than first thought, by a combined 14,000 payrolls. The department revised the number in June to 231,000 and in May to 260,000. That brought the average monthly jobs gains to 235,000 over the past three months, heightening expectations that the Fed could raise its near-zero federal funds rate as early as next month.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2015.