The Labor Department's July jobs report beat expectations this morning by adding 255,000 jobs in the last month. Labor force participation climbed as well, to 62.8%, from 62.7% in June.
That's significantly higher than expected, with economists initially projecting that the U.S. would add only about 180,000 jobs. Hourly earnings also climbed about 2.6% year over year.
Unemployment held steady at 4.9% on average, though rates varied for different groups:
Adult men (4.6%)
Adult women (4.3%)
Teenagers aged 16 to 19 (15.6%)
Whites (4.3%)
Blacks (8.4%)
Asians (3.8%)
Hispanics (5.4%)
The reason jobs numbers can rise while unemployment stays the same is that unemployment measures only those people who are actively looking for work: The rise in labor participation suggests a growing number of Americans — who may have been discouraged after the recession, and stopped looking for work — are back on the market.
Another piece of good news: Full-time positions are increasingly available.
Almost all of the jobs since the recession ended have been full-time positions http://on.wsj.com/2aqZKnl pic.twitter.com/4YIBWroNtj
And, though it might not feel like it for some, average wages are also rising.
Wage growth remains at its highest rate since the Great Recession http://read.bi/2aNEfzS pic.twitter.com/Txk3YU8fWB
Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com, said in an email to Mic that the "somewhat reassuring report" boded well for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, because "it is hard to construct a realistic scenario where the U.S. economy looks substantially different from now when voters head to the polls."
When your friends on Facebook say "these are all crummy low-wage jobs!," note that professional/business services up 550K in last year.
In other words, good news on jobs while a Democrat is in office is good for the Democratic nominee.
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