US adds a solid 213,000 jobs; unemployment up to 4 pct.

[Catholic Crusader]

US adds a solid 213,000 jobs; unemployment up to 4 pct.
ABC News
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/us-added-213000-jobs-june-unemployment-rose-pct-56404005

U.S. employers kept up a brisk hiring pace in June by adding 213,000 jobs, a sign of confidence in the economy despite the start of a potentially punishing trade war with China.

The job growth wasn't enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising from 3.8 percent to 4 percent, the government said Friday. But the jobless rate rose for an encouraging reason: More people felt it was a good time to begin looking for a job, though not all of them immediately found one.

Even ABC News can't hide the Good News

 

[The Barbarian]

The decline in unemployment leveled off in 2017 after 8 years of decline:

But when it get close to 4%, that's pretty good. Trump hasn't so far done anything to mess it up, although the trade war looks to be damaging. Again, so far, job losses have been rather modest.

While the damage has been limited so far, it would spread quickly if the Trump administration follows through on all its threatened tariffs, economists say. President Donald Trump significantly ramped up the fight Friday with fresh tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports.

“This is hurting the economy but so far it’s manageable,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. “If the war continues to escalate, it will do more damage and at some point it will undercut the good economy” and trigger a recession.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/mone...-war-china-layoffs-thinner-profits/762569002/

But don't worry...
Trump doubles down: 'Trade wars are good, and easy to win'

 

[Catholic Crusader]

Unemployment rate matches lowest point in half a century
by Nathaniel Meyersohn @CNNMoney
June 1, 2018: 12:53 PM ET
http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/01/news/economy/may-jobs-report/index.html

The jobless rate ticked down to 3.8% in May, another sign of the strong economy and tight labor market.

That tied the lowest unemployment rate since 1969. Since then, the only other time unemployment was this low was in April 2000.

"It fell for all the right reasons. We had more people coming into the labor market. We saw employers digging deeper into the pool of unemployed," said Josh Wright, chief economist at the software firm iCIMS.

The jobs report painted a picture of an economy with opportunities for almost everyone. Black unemployment fell to a record low, and the gap between black and white unemployment shrank to the narrowest ever measured.

Job openings are at a record high, and businesses are hungry for workers. That has helped underrepresented Americans find jobs.

The unemployment rate among African-Americans and Asian-Americans has been steadily declining. It has also dropped among low-education workers and even teenagers. Over the past year, the unemployment rate among 16- to 19-year-olds has fallen from 14.1% to 12.8%.

Related: Black unemployment rate hits a record low

Economists believe that the unemployment rate can dip even further because there's still slack in the job market.

The employed percentage of America's population stands at 60.4%, still well below pre-recession levels.

Despite questions about employers' ability to find qualified workers, the economy added 223,000 jobs in May, better than economists predicted.

Job gains were broad. The retail, health care and construction sectors added the most positions. The economy has added 207,000 jobs a month this year on average, a faster pace than last year.

"The US economy has this incredible head of steam," Wright said......(SNIP)