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Unemployment drops slightly to 9.1%, 117K jobs created in July

The U.S. economy gained 117,000 jobs in the month of July, a net increase driven entirely by the private sector. About 154,000 private sector jobs were created

Jul 31, 202033.2K Shares1.1M Views
The U.S. economy gained 117,000 jobs in the month of July, a net increase driven entirely by the private sector. About 154,000 private sector jobs were created in July, even as 37,000 government jobs were lost due to state and local government budget cuts.
The unemployment rate dropped slightly, from 9.2 percent to 9.1 percent. The change wasn’t caused by the new jobs but rather by 193,000 people leaving the labor force during the month. The employment-population ratio is now 58.1 percent, the lowest it’s been for decades.
The unemployment rate is 15.9 percent for African-Americans and 11.3 percent for Hispanics, little change from June. The total number of jobs created in June, originally thought be as low 18,000, was revised upwards to over 46,000.
Overall, the new jobs numbers represent an economy that is barely keeping up with population growth. It nevertheless staves off fear that the U.S. economy is currently in the midst of a second or “double dip” recession, fears that were heightened Thursday after the Dow-Jones Industrial Average dropped 512 points, the highest drop since December 2008. The U.S. Commerce Department announced that in the first half of 2011, economicgrowthis at its lowest since the recession started in 2008.
In a statement, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) said, “Today’s unemployment report is more proof that all of the Washington spending, taxing, and regulating is devastating our economy.”
Paula M. Graham

Paula M. Graham

Reviewer
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