The US economy added 943,000 more jobs than anticipated in July, increasing employment
The US economy added 943,000 more jobs than anticipated in July, increasing employment. Gains were seen across a number of industries, including leisure and hospitality, education, and professional services. Forecasts for the number of jobs added in the previous month ranged widely from 350,000 to 1.6 million, with an average estimate of 870,000. The data, however, are mostly from before Covid’s Delta form became popular in the US and contributed to a surge in infections. There are also concerns that further restrictions might be implemented. Growth has been a sprint, but Bank of the West’s chief economist, Scott Anderson, of San Francisco, warned that it may now be more of a marathon.
The hiring in July helped the jobless rate drop by 0.5 percentage points to 5.4 percent. In total, 8.7 million people are still unemployed, which is significantly fewer than the peak in April of last year. But even so, that number is still substantially greater than the pre-pandemic total of 5.7 million in February 2020. Despite the concerns around Delta, experts claimed that the data indicated a fundamentally sound economic recovery. According to Richard Flynn, UK director at Charles Schwab, the data are “a strong sign for markets that the economic recovery has moved into a higher gear.”
The US economy recovered more swiftly than expected in the first three months of this year after suffering a significant decline in 2020. Due to a rise in coronavirus infections, the recovery slowed in the second quarter, growing at an annualized pace of 6.5 percent rather than the 8.5 percent expected. In addition, the country is experiencing a labor shortage, which has stopped businesses from filling a record number of open positions. Some observers have attributed the scarcity to the epidemic’s impact on retirements and career shifts, a lack of easily accessible childcare, and concerns about getting sick.
Others argue that there are not enough qualified candidates to fill all of the low-skilled job positions.
