Jobs Report: U.S. Adds 209,000 To Employment Rolls In July

NEW YORK, NY — Following a relatively strong period of growth in the second quarter of the year and in the midst of record-breaking gains in the stock market as the Dow surpasses 22,000, the American economy added a healthy 209,000 jobs in the month of July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unemployment ticked down to 4.3 percent. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"Excellent Jobs Numbers just released - and I have only just begun," President Trump tweeted after the news broke. "Many job stifling regulations continue to fall. Movement back to USA!" Before he became president, Trump called the numbers from BLS "phony."

"This was a solid jobs report overall. The unemployment rate dropped and the participation rate climbed," said Chief Economist Curt Long of the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions. "Hourly wages grew by 9 cents, but year-over-year growth remained stuck at a modest 2.5 percent. As for the Fed, the path is clear to begin tapering the balance sheet in September, but NAFCU continues to believe that a December rate hike is unlikely unless inflation strengthens in the coming months."

Cathy Barrera, chief economic adviser for ZipRecruiter, saw some positive signs in the report for the younger generation and people on the lower side of the income distribution.

"While we’re still mystified by the muted wage growth, wages among the lower 25th percentile is growing a lot faster than those who are at the top 75th percentile," she said. "This is one indication that the job market for younger workers and/or workers without college degrees may be heating up, which is great news because this is the group that has not seen as full a recovery as everyone else."

She added: "We’re starting to see a trend for that particular group with modest rises in labor force participation and downward ticks in unemployment. At ZipRecruiter, we’re seeing more jobs that don’t require a college degree get posted. We will keep an eye on these trends to see how they play out."

Ben Casselman from FiveThirtyEight also pointed to the rise in the labor force participation rate, one indicator that has lagged since the massive financial crisis and recession hit in 2008:

This story is being updated.

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