This plus the revisions of the past two months have us at almost 200,000 jobs per month. That at the same time the government shed jobs. Things are starting to pick up slowly. The sequester, that fact that job growth in summer usually falls off. Homes are being built around me pretty steadily now. Seems like we are trying to add jobs against the tide a lot. Interest rates rising, fuel prices are still high (Which I think deserves investigation) Auto purchases are up and I will tell ya one thing, I think some of the Fords, Chevys and Dodges are looking pretty sharp.
Yeah, I get there are still issues to deal with and wouldn't it be great if our elected officials actually worked harder at making government work better instead of spending most of their times playing partisan politics and trying to gain power. It's like a friggin sport when it shouldn't be.
Jobs report shows steady growth as U.S. added 195,000 jobs in June
The U.S. economy added 195,000 jobs in June, continuing a trend of steady growth as private hiring across a broad spectrum of industries offset declines in government and manufacturing employment.
While not enough to push down the 7.6 percent unemployment rate, the number beat analysts’ forecasts and stoked expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin reducing its support for U.S. financial markets this fall.
The composition of job gains and losses reflected both what appears to be a durable U.S. recovery and weaker demand for U.S. goods in places such as Europe, which is still in the midst of a recession, and China, where growth has begun to slow.
U.S. exports have been disappointingly flat in recent months and have become a drag on the manufacturing sector, but domestic spending has helped to spur job growth in areas such as retail.
“It is consistent with what we have seen in consumer confidence increasing and households feeling in a stronger position to spend,” said Alan Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Krueger said that despite the overall decline in manufacturing, hiring in some industries, such as autos, remained strong; and there is hope that as the housing sector strengthens, it will boost demand for appliances, furniture, building materials and other manufactured goods.
The monthly jobs report is considered among the most important barometers of the economy. It is taking on additional importance now because of its influence on when the Fed will begin to reduce the monthly asset purchases with which it has been supporting the U.S. economy — a key issue in the debate over domestic and global economic policy. The Fed has tied the end of its asset purchases to progress on reducing joblessness.
Interest rates on U.S. Treasury bonds headed higher after Friday’s report as investors continued to bet that the Fed will follow through on its “tapering” plans and reduce asset purchases in coming months. Declining demand for financial assets like Treasury bonds increases the interest rate that the seller must offer and drives down the price.
Stock investors, on the contrary, were buoyed by the evidence of steady economic growth. Major U.S. stock markets were higher through the day and closed up about 1 percent.
Officials and analysts across the spectrum agreed the report was a positive one: Both House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and the more liberal Economic Policy Institute referred to it as “good news.”
One positive development: The labor participation rate remained steady at 63.5 percent and has remained roughly constant for about a year now after a period when unemployed workers were becoming discouraged and ending active job hunts. Along with the healthy addition of jobs in June, the Labor Department revised its previous employment estimates for April and May upward by 70,000 jobs.
But joblessness remains high. There are 11.8 million people out of work — 4.3 million of whom have been without a job for more than half a year — and another 8.2 million working part time because they cannot find full-time jobs, an increase of more than 320,000 from May. Overall, the number of people with full-time jobs remains 2.5 million below the peak it hit in November 2007.
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