Following this morning’s release of July unemployment numbers, the Treasury Department’s Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Jane Eberly held a press briefing to flesh out the Labor Department’s report.
Below are five noteworthy figures:
1. The creation of 163,000 jobs in July topped the analyst estimate of 100,000, but the unemployment rate ROSE one tenth of a point to 8.3%. The rise in employment was concentrated in the 16-19 year old age bracket, while the unemployment rate for other age groups remained the same as in June.
2. June’s job creation figure of 80,000 was revised DOWN to 64,000.
3. The sectors posting big gains for last month included food service and drinking establishments (29,000), health care and social assistance (19,000), private education jobs (18,000).
4. Automotive manufacturers responded to an increase in light vehicle sales over the past year by adding 12,800 workers to their payrolls last month.
5. Whereas private sector job creation numbers (172,000) pulled the July average up, the shedding of 9,000 government jobs dragged the national average down. At the local government level, 7,000 individuals were let go in the education sector, while 6,000 were hired in non-education jobs.
