After an anemic print in May, the American employment economy roared back during the month of June according to data (.pdf) released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
A robust 224,000 jobs were created last month, according to the federal government’s report – well above the high-water Wall Street projection of 160,000 and more than three times the revised 72,000 figure from May.
That print was also more than twice the 102,000 new jobs cited by private sector payroll provider ADP – which correctly predicted last month’s big employment whiff.
The surprisingly strong number – the best job monthly growth recorded since January – is obviously good news for U.S. president Donald Trump, who is banking on sustained economic expansion as his ticket to reelection next November. Of course, the bad news for Trump is that the secretive Federal Reserve bank is now far less likely to lower interest rates at its meeting later this month.
A second consecutive weak labor report would have likely sparked rate cuts in an effort to stimulate the economy. Now those cuts are “virtually impossible,” according to the website Zero Hedge.
The Fed has raised interest rates seven times since Trump took office. By contrast, the central bank raised rates just twice during the entire eight years Barack Obama was in office – and one of those rate hikes was approved in December of 2016, the month after Trump was elected.
Trump has frequently chided the Fed for pumping the brakes on the economy since he took office.
[su_dominion_video_scb]Looking within the latest jobs data, wages ticked up by only 0.2 percent last month – below the 0.3 percent increase analysts expected. Similarly, wage growth year-over-year also missed the mark – climbing by 3.1 percent instead of the 3.2 percent projected.
May’s wage growth was revised higher, however, “suggesting workers continue to wring solid wage increases from employers,” according to Zero Hedge.
Labor participation expanded modestly by 0.1 percent to 62.9 percent – which is exactly where it was when Trump took office. Still, a whopping 96 million working age Americans were not part of the labor force last month.
Another ominous sign? The number of Americans working multiple jobs soared by 301,000 in June – from 7.8 million to 8.1 million.
Here is the BLS employment situation report in its entirety …
(Via: BLS)
-FITSNews
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our stories? Please feel free to submit your own letter to the editor (or guest column) via-email HERE. Got a tip for us? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE. Want to support what we’re doing? SUBSCRIBE HERE.
(VIA: GETTY IMAGES)