America’s hiring boom continued last month. U.S. employers have added a surprising 528,000 jobs despite rising inflation and rising anxiety about a recession.
The hiring in July was up from 398,000 in June. Moreover, the unemployment rate slipped to 3.5%. The U.S. economy shrank in the first two quarters of 2022 an informal definition of recession.
The U.S. economy shrank in the first two quarters of 2022 an informal definition of recession. But most economists believe the strong jobs market has kept the economy from slipping into a downturn.
“Recession what recession? wrote Brian Coulton, chief economist at Fitch Ratings, wrote after the numbers came out. The U.S. economy is creating” new jobs at an annual rate of 6 million that’s three times faster than what we normally see historically in a good year.
“There’s more work to do, but today’s jobs report shows we are making significant progress for working families,” Biden said.
Economists had expected only 250,000 new jobs this month. The Labor Department also revised May and June hiring, saying an extra 28,000 jobs were created in those months. Job growth was especially strong last month in the healthcare industry and at hotels and restaurants.
The jobless rate fell as the number of Americans saying they had jobs rose by 179,000 and the number saying they were unemployed dropped by 242,000.
But 61,000 Americans dropped out of the labour force in July, trimming the share of those working or looking for work to 62.1% last month from 62.2% in June.
The economic backdrop has been troubling: Gross domestic product the broadest measure of economic output fell in both the first and second quarters; consecutive GDP drops are one definition of a recession. Inflation remains at a high. It is the highest in 40 years.
However, fears of recession have gripped countries worldwide. Britain is expecting to go into recession by end of the year. Europe too is steeped in uncertainty, with the Ukraine war only fueling fears.
