215K Retail, Manufacturing Jobs Added In July

While economists had predicted that hiring would slow this year, U.S. employers have been expanding their payrolls, adding an average of 215,000 jobs per month through July. By comparison, employers added 184,000 jobs on average over the first seven months of 2017, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Retailers, in particular, added an average of 12,000 jobs per month this year. Those increases come with a rise in consumer spending, along with increasing incomes. Ace Hardware Corp., for example, expanded its footprint over the first six months of 2018 by opening 87 new stores in the U.S. —  around 1,300 new jobs. In total, Ace Hardware is planning on opening 160 new stores this year, and it believes that sales will rise 6 percent.

The United States economy added more jobs than expected in June, with notable manufacturing gains in terms of verticals. Reuters reported Friday (August 4) that gains in the employment rosters also show traction in inflation, which means that rate increases are still on the horizon.

Economists had a consensus expectation that 195,000 jobs would be added to the economy, but the headline numbers show that nonfarm payrolls rose by 213,000 positions in June, per data from the Labor Department. As is standard practice, the data that had been tied to April and May was also revised, with upward momentum — the tally gained 37,000 positions.

More people have entered the workforce, which means — even with the aforementioned gains — the unemployment rate was up 20 basis points in its most recent reading, to 4 percent. The new entrants to the labor market show confidence in job prospects, reported TheNewswire. In another set of stats that show some sanguine outlook, the labor force participation rate was 62.9 percent in June, versus the May rate of 62.7 percent.