Though the United States still has significant work to do to continue toward the mythical “recovery” after the great recession of 2008, the jobs numbers from July show an impressive leap forward for progress.
On Friday, the Labor Department reported that in the month of July, businesses added a whopping 217,000 jobs. The top industry to add jobs was professional and business services, health care, and finance. Governmental jobs added a smaller but still impressive 38,000 jobs.
The Labor Department also revised previous rates from May and June, showing that May actually added 24,000 jobs and July added 292,000.
Average hourly wages are also up nationwide, rising 8 cents on average. In addition, the average work week has risen slightly and 17,000 temp workers were also added to the workforce. Those employers who add temps are more likely to add more permanent employees in the following months.
Not all industries are seeing the benefits of this upturn as energy companies continue to axe positions, dropping 7,000 jobs in July.
There are still steps to be taken to employ workers and improve conditions nationwide, but with this strong month of growth, it’s safe to say that the market is feeling solid, if not somewhat constrictive.
