(CNN Business)– After adding 528,000 jobs in July, the United States economy just recovered all the jobs it lost during the pandemic, according to a report published this Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, for its acronym in English). Is.
According to Refinitiv, the massive monthly profit was more than double economists’ forecast of 250,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate fell to 3.5% after hovering at 3.6% for the past four months. Furthermore, this July indicator reaches a half-century low that was last recorded in February 2020.
The July results mark the 19th consecutive month of job growth in the US, the highest number since the economy added 714,000 jobs in February. And July job totals exceed the average monthly profit at 388,000 for the past four months, BLS data shows.
Job gains were broad across sectors, although some of the biggest gains were in leisure and hospitality. However, according to the BLS, jobs in that key service sector are still below their pre-pandemic levels with more than 1 million jobs.
The labor force participation rate fell from 62.2% in June to 62.1%. Average hourly earnings rose 0.5% over the past month and were up 5.2% from a year ago.
What economists expect about jobs in the United States
Economists had expected the labor market to show some slowdown, as it not only approached the recovery of the more than 20 million jobs lost in the pandemic, but also reflected a broader slowdown in economic activity.
Prior to Friday’s report, which also included upward revisions for a total of 28,000 jobs over the past two months, the country had around 524,000 jobs short of reaching February 2020 levels.
That gap was erased in one huge blow.
“Despite two consecutive quarters of GDP growth in the first half of the year, these strong labor market numbers make a strong case against talk of a recession,” Mark Hamrick, chief economic analyst at Bankrate, said in a statement.
This report, when analyzed with the latest data, shows the number of job seekers still outnumbering job seekers could put pressure on the Federal Reserve to continue a series of aggressive rate hikes, he said. Told.
“as [el presidente de la Fed] Jerome Powell and his colleagues continue to assess that the labor market is up, which continues to favor bookkeeping, forcing them to continue raising interest rates,” he said.
