US labor market softens markedly
The US labor market gives cause for concern. Only 114 thousand new jobs were created in July and the unemployment rate has continued to climb significantly to 4.3%.
Commerzbank Economic Research
08/02/2024
The data ...
In July, job growth in the US amounted to 114 thousand, which is significantly less than expected (consensus and Commerzbank forecast: 180 thousand). In addition, the data for May and June were revised downwards by a total of 29k. The unemployment rate surprisingly rose from 4.1% to 4.3% (consensus and Commerzbank forecast: 4.1%).
... and the background
There is nothing to gloss over, the US labor market is weakening merkedly. The increase in employment in July was significantly lower than in the first quarter, for example, even if there was a slightly lower increase of 108 thousand in April. At the same time, the average work week was reduced, meaning that fewer hours were worked overall than in June. At the same time, wage growth is declining. Average hourly earnings are only 3.6% higher than a year ago. This means that wages are rising only slightly more than before the pandemic, when they increased by 3% to 3.5%.
For full text see attached PDF-Version.
