U.S. job growth remained steady in July, though workers are still largely seeing slower wage gains, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Labor Department.
Some of the highlights of July’s jobs report:
- U.S. employers added 209,000 net new jobs, slightly above analysts’ expectations.
- The unemployment rate ticked down slightly to 4.3% from June’s 4.4% and matched May’s 16-year-low.
- Average hourly earnings increased by 9 cents, or less than 1%, to $26.36 in July.
With jobs numbers coming in slightly above expectations and wages moving laterally, Joseph Seydl, capital markets economist with J.P. Morgan Private Bank, described the report as “business as usual.”
