The U.S. economy added 209,000 non-farm payroll positions in July, according to today's monthly employment report released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This seasonally adjusted figure is 82,000 jobs less than a year before, when 291,000 jobs were added in July 2016, and 22,000 jobs less than last month's upwardly revised addition of 231,000 jobs, but 209,000 jobs added is still high for an economy running at basically full employment still exceeds economists' expectation of 180,000 jobs.
In May, the unemployment rate dropped to a 16-year low—4.3 percent. The June and July reports then matched that (in line with economists' expectations). As we come closer and closer to reaching full employment, it's anticipated that job creation will slow.
While wage growth has been increasing marginal, low-income workers have seen more significant pay increases than other groups. In December, average hourly earnings made the largest 12-month gain since 2009, but have grown at a more measured rate since. On average, employees on private non-farm payrolls saw their hourly earnings increase $0.09 to $26.36 in July. Wages are now 2.5 percent higher than a year prior—when average weekly earnings were $25.71—and are another indication of a tightening job market. The labor force participation rate, at 62.9 percent in July, has remained largely unchanged over the past year.
Job growth in the construction industry ebbed considerably in the first half of the year, but July saw a relatively minor addition of 6,000 jobs, down from last month when 15,000 jobs were added in all of construction. Employment in residential construction of buildings increased by 5,100 jobs, nonresidential construction by a mere 400 jobs, and heavy and civil engineering construction lost 1,200 jobs.
Momentum in the manufacturing industry continued, adding 16,000 jobs since last month. Meanwhile, payrolls in the architectural and engineering services added a healthy 3,600 jobs in July, after adding another solid 4,900 jobs in June.
Read the full release here.
From the BLS' historical data release: The BLS also releases detailed information subsets of key markets with a one-month lag, in this case offering more detailed information of employment in architectural services categories. The charts below highlight a monthly job-growth breakdown of the architectural services, landscape architectural services, and engineering and drafting services between June 2016 and June 2017. Details of these subcategories' performance in July will be revealed in next month's historical data release.
