Posted August 5, 2022 9:50 am
Below, EPI economists offer their initial findings from the jobs report released this morning, which showed 528,000 jobs were added in July.
From EPI Senior Economist Eliza Gould (@eliselgould):
Read the full Twitter thread here.
Most of the jobs added are in education and healthcare, leisure and hospitality, and professional and business services. The number of public sector jobs increased in July but remains nearly 600,000 below pre-pandemic levels, raising concerns for public sector workers and the vital services they provide. pic.twitter.com/kdVU4A0Tiu
— Eliza Gould (@eliselgould) August 5, 2022
Year-on-year wage trends point to a slowdown in wage growth in recent months. The last quarterly change (on an annualized basis) shows an increase in July, but this may be a blip in a different downtrend and is almost certainly still lowering (rather than raising) inflation. pic.twitter.com/XvzjajJuE5
— Eliza Gould (@eliselgould) August 5, 2022
When the overall unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, it dropped to 2.6% for Asian workers, 3.1% for White workers, and 3.9% for Hispanic workers. Black unemployment, although noticeably more volatile, increased to 6.0% (with participation and EPOP falling). pic.twitter.com/Dez9ADYI4r
— Eliza Gould (@eliselgould) August 5, 2022
From EPI President Heidi Schierholtz (@hshierholz):
Read the full Twitter thread here.
However, it is worth noting that household survey (HH) employment rates have remained virtually unchanged in recent months (the 3-month moving average of HH survey employment has decreased by 54,000 since May). Why is it worth noting? 2/
— Heidi Schierholz (@hshierholz) August 5, 2022
The unemployment rate fell to 3.5% in July for a combination of good and bad reasons: the proportion of the working-age population with a job rose by 0.1 percentage points, but the labor force participation rate fell by 0.1 percentage points. four/
— Heidi Schierholz (@hshierholz) August 5, 2022
Make no mistake, we generally want positive real wage growth for workers! But the slowdown in wage growth means the Fed doesn’t need to raise interest rates anymore to keep inflation in check. 6/
— Heidi Schierholz (@hshierholz) August 5, 2022
There is still a gigantic gap in state and local government jobs, down 605,000 since Feb. 20, with nearly half of those, 282,000, in education. It is critical that state and local governments use their ARPA funds to raise wages and fill those jobs. eight/
— Heidi Schierholz (@hshierholz) August 5, 2022
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