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Hi I’m Robert Burns, with this month’s BLS Employment Situation Report rundown for July 2023, brought to you by Search Solution Group.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides regular reports on employment data and other economic indicators that employers use everywhere to make informed decisions.
Here’s what’s happening with the job market:
The U.S. labor market remained vibrant in July as the BLS reported non-farm payroll increased by 187,000.
Both the unemployment rate, at 3.5% percent, and the number of unemployed persons, at 5.8 million, remained essentially flat versus the prior month.
Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 187,000 for July, slightly below the Dow Jones estimate for 200,000 (source: CNBC).
For comparison, June added 185,000 jobs, and May added 281,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate was 3.5%, against a consensus estimate that the jobless level would hold steady at 3.6%.
This rate is just above the lowest level since late 1969.
Looking at earnings… average hourly earnings rose 0.4% for the month, good for a 4.4% annual pace, both above expectations.
Now looking at various job sectors, a few sectors are seeing good growth.
In July, health care, social assistance, financial activities and wholesale trade were the leading sectors for job creation.
Health care led job creation by industry, adding 63,000 jobs for the month.
Other sectors showing strong gains were Social Assistance, adding 24,000 jobs, Financial Activities, adding 19,000 jobs, and Wholesale Trade, which added 18,000 jobs in July.
The “other services” category contributed 20,000 to the total, which included 11,000 from personal and laundry services.
Leisure and hospitality, which has been a leading sector for most of the recovery in the Covid pandemic era, added only 17,000 jobs in July, consistent with a slowing trend after averaging gains of 67,000 a month in the first three months of 2023.
“The labor market seems to be humming along rather well at this point in the business cycle. A 3.5% unemployment rate, you can’t complain about that,” said Satyam Panday, U.S. chief economist at S&P Global Ratings. “It’s a nice glide path down. We would have liked to see wage growth come down a little, but the purchasing power of the consumer seems to be holding up well.” (source: CNBC)
Well, there it is.
Thank you for joining me for this month’s Jobs report rundown. To take a deeper dive into this month’s report, click the article link below.
Thank you and have a great day.
