Job Report in US, July 2017 – Employment increased by 209,000

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 209,000 in July, and the unemployment rate
was little changed at 4.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Employment increased in food services and drinking places, professional and business
services, and health care.

Household Survey Data

Both the unemployment rate, at 4.3 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, at 7.0
million, changed little in July. After declining earlier in the year, the unemployment
rate has shown little movement in recent months. (See table A-1.)

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Employment Situation Summary

Why isn’t the heightened demand for workers driving up pay?

The Federal Reserve pointed to that conundrum in the updated report on the American economy it sent to Congress on Friday. “Despite the broad-based strength in measures of employment,” it said, “wage growth has been only modest, possibly held down by the weak pace of productivity growth in recent years.”

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at U.S. Job Growth Picks Up the Pace, but Wages Lag Behind – The New York Times