m*********u
发帖数: 1491 | 1 By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employment growth jumped in June and the jobless
rate closed in on a six-year low, decisive evidence the economy was growing
briskly heading into the second half of the year.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 288,000 jobs last month and the unemployment
rate fell to 6.1 percent from 6.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said
on Thursday. Data for April and May were revised to show a total of 29,000
more jobs created than previously reported.
In addition, the ranks of the long-term unemployed shrank and the share of
Americans with a job hit its highest level since August 2009. Job gains were
widespread across sectors and there were few signs of inflationary wage
pressures.
"It's a strong report, there is no question about it. The labor market is
improving at a seemingly stronger rate than before, the slack is being
absorbed, we are chipping away," said Josh Feinman, chief global economist
at Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management in New York.
Employment has now grown by more than 200,000 jobs in each of the last five
months, a stretch not seen since the technology boom in the late 1990s. That
added to signs a plunge in economic output in the first quarter was a
weather-driven anomaly.
Job growth averaged 231,000 per month in the first half of the year, the
best start since 2006.
U.S. stocks rose on the data, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing
above the 17,000 threshold for the first time. Prices for U.S. Treasuries
fell and the U.S. dollar advanced against a basket of currencies, as traders
bet on an earlier interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.
Rate futures moved to show a 58 percent probability of an increase in June
2015, up from 51 percent. JPMorgan moved up its forecast for a rate hike to
the third quarter of next year from the fourth quarter, while Goldman Sachs
acknowledged it could come sooner than its call for the first quarter of
2016.
"With additional, similar reports in the coming months, we believe the
timing of the Fed policy turning point could be moved from late in 2015 to
earlier in the year," said Doug Handler, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global
Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts.
LABOR MARKET TIGHTENING
The jobless rate reached its lowest level since September 2008 despite a
swelling of the labor force.
Nevertheless, the labor force participation rate, or the share of working-
age Americans who are employed or at least looking for a job, was steady at
62.8 percent, a low struck in December for the first time since 1978.
A broader measure of unemployment, which includes people who want a job but
have given up searching and those working part-time because they cannot find
full-time jobs, fell to 12.1 percent, the lowest level since October 2008.
The unemployment rate for Americans who have been out of work for at least
27 weeks fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 2.0 percent, the lowest
since February 2009.
These long-term jobless accounted for 32.8 percent of the 9.5 million
jobless Americans, down from 34.6 percent in May. The median duration of
unemployment fell to a more than five-year low of 13.1 weeks.
But there was a jump in the number of people working part-time even though
they want a full-time job.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen has cited low labor force participation and high
levels of long-term unemployed and part-time workers as evidence of job
market slack that could allow the central bank to bide its time before
raising borrowing costs.
The Fed has held overnight rates near zero since December 2008.
"We believe that continued labor market pessimism from the Fed will only
serve to boost concerns about inflation," said Drew Matus, an economist at
UBS in New York. "We continue to believe that there is little slack in the
labor market."
Job gains were spread across all sectors. Services industries employment
jumped by 236,000, the biggest gain since October 2012, while manufacturing
payrolls increased by 16,000, an 11th straight monthly rise. Construction
jobs advanced for the sixth consecutive month and government employment
increased by 26,000.
The length of the average workweek held at a post-recession high of 34.5
hours. Total hours worked rose 0.2 percent.
Separate data on Thursday showed services sector activity expanded strongly
in June, while a third report showed exports hit a record high in May,
helping to narrow the U.S. trade deficit. Still, trade is expected to weigh
on growth in the April-June period for a second consecutive quarter.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani,; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Paul Simao) |
|
