U.S. economy adds ‘respectable’ 215,000 jobs in July
The American economy added 215,000 jobs in July, which The New York Times called “a respectable gain” that could raise the comfort level of policy makers at the Federal Reserve as they consider when they will raise interest rates after more than six years of not increasing rates.
The newspaper said the hiring pace was slower than the hot pace in late 2014, the average monthly payroll gain in the first half of 2015 was more than 200,000, and the report from the Labor Department on Friday showed employers to be consistent with that pace last month.
The unemployment rate held steady after a decrease to 5.3% in June, which was the lowest level in more than seven years. Before the report, economists on Wall Street had been predicting a gain of 225,000 jobs, with no change in the unemployment rate, the newspaper said.
The Labor Department also revised upward the number of jobs added in May and June by a total of 14,000. That brought the average monthly gain over the last three months to 235,000. Despite the overall healthy tone in the report, there was one negative. The proportion of Americans in the work force did not rebound in July after declining in recent months. It stands at 62.6%, which is high and at a level not seen since the late 1970s.
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