July ended with 528,000 jobs in the US amid recession fears

DORAL, FL – 528,000 jobs in the US were added by the end of last month, which dropped down the unemployment rate from 3.6% to 3.5%.

According to the Labor Department, with these numbers the economy recovered all 22 million jobs lost in March and April 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic reached the nation. Now the country is back to the more than 50-year low reached in prepandemic times.

The new scenario is better than the one projected by economists that expected only 250,000 new jobs in July, in a drop-off from June’s revised 398,000.

The Labor Department also reported that hourly earnings posted a 0.5% gain last month and are up 5.2% over the past year. Job growth was solid particularly in the health care industry and at hotels and restaurants.

Now, some economists think this is a clear sign there isn’t a recession coming. “Recession — what recession?” wrote Brian Coulton, chief economist at Fitch Ratings, as reported by the AP. “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.”

“The strength of the labor market in the face of … rate-tightening from the Fed already this year clearly shows that the Fed has more work to do,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management, to the news agency. “Overall, today’s report should put the notion of a near-term recession on the back burner for now.?

The number of Americans claiming they had jobs in the US rose by 179,000, while the number saying they were unemployed fell by 242,000. Despite this, 61,000 Americans left the labor force in July, trimming the share of those working or looking for work to 62.1% from 62.2% in June.

President Joe Biden reacted to the news by saying: “Instead of workers begging employers for work, we’re seeing employers have to compete for American workers.”

Biden has boosted job growth with his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package and $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law last year. However, the high inflation continues to be threat and many say the administration’s spending has contributed to this.

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