Monthly jobs report says economy is growing

SALT LAKE CITY — The  Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Friday in its monthly jobs report that U.S. employers have added 943,000 jobs in the last month.

Additionally, the unemployment rate for July was at 5.4% compared to 5.9% in June.

Zions Bank Senior Economist Robert Spendlove told Utah’s Morning News the monthly jobs report brought good news.

“This is really a strong jobs report,” he said on KSL NewsRadio Friday. “That 943,000 was higher than we were expecting. And the drop in unemployment is huge, going from 5.9 to 5.4 percent.”

Companies that are trying to attract new employees have also increased wages. Average hourly earnings also increased more than expected, rising .4 percent for the month.

Spendlove said that there are 9 million job openings around the country right now, but not all of them are being filled.

“There are tons of jobs openings,” he said. “And employers are having a hard time getting (potential) employees to actually come in.”

Regaining lost jobs

According to the U.S Department of Labor‘s website, 75% of the jobs lost in March and April 2020 have been recovered. 

In addition, the website also says that over the past three months, an average of 832,000 jobs per month have been added to the economy. 

By the numbers

The website also reports the number of unemployed individuals fell by 782,000 to 8.7 million in July. More than 3 million individuals have been unemployed for at least six months. Out of that, 2.5 million individuals have been out of work for at least a year.

Read more:

• The US economy added 850,000 jobs in June, the strongest gain since March
• Fewer jobs added to US economy in May than expected
• Davis School District reports over 100 open jobs weeks before school starts
• Need work? Salt Lake City International Airport has big jobs shortage

 

Follow @MarkJonesKSL