The jobs report is out and it’s a beat.
In July, the U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs, more than the 180,000 expected by economists. The 222,000 jobs added in June were revised up to 231,000.
Over the last three months, job gains have averaged 195,000 per month.
In July, the unemployment rate fell to 4.3% as expected, matching the 16-year low also seen back in May of this year.
Shortly after the report’s release, President Donald Trump tweeted about the report, saying “Excellent Jobs Numbers just released – and I have only just begun.”
Wages in July were also a bit better than expected, as month-on-month gains came in in-line with expectations and year-on-year gains topped expectations. Wages rose 0.3% over the prior month and 2.5% over last year.
Expectations were for wages to rise 0.3% month-on-month and 2.4% over the prior year. Many economists have expected that with the unemployment rate now within shouting distance of 4% we’d see more acceleration in aggregate wage gains.
Following the release of the report, stock futures were higher with the Dow up about 60 points, S&P 500 futures were up 3 points, and the Nasdaq was up 9 points.
In July, the underemployment rate (also known as the U-6 unemployment rate), which includes those out of work and those working part-time but who would like to have full-time work, stood at 8.6%, unchanged from June.