U.S. GAINS 1.8 MILLION JOBS, Topping Expectations

Unemployment drops to Obama levels. Expect plenty of Democrat-media generated COVID panic porn  and fearmongering— there is nothing the left can’t stand more than good news – like a silver bullet to Dracula.

The party of misery:

Payrolls increase by nearly 1.8 million, topping expectations

By: Jeff Cox, CNBC, August 7 2020:

• Nonfarm payrolls increased by 1.763 million in July and the unemployment rate fell to 10.2%.
• Both numbers were better than respective Wall Street forecasts of 1.48 million and 10.6%.
• U.S. jobs rise by 1.763 million in July, vs 1.48 million expected

Two months of record-setting payroll growth slowed in July but was still better than Wall Street estimates even as a rise in coronavirus cases put a damper on the struggling U.S. economy.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 1.763 million for the month. The unemployment rate fell to 10.2% from its previous 11.1%, also better than the estimates from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. An alternative measure that includes discouraged workers and the undermployed holding parttime jobs for economic reasons fell from 18% to 16.5%.

Chart showing change in nonfarm payrolls, compared to the prior month, through July 2020.

The consensus was for growth of 1.48 million and an unemployment rate of 10.6%.

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However, there were wide variations around the estimates as the pandemic’s resurgence dented plans to get the shuttered U.S. economy back online. Forecasts ranged from a decline of half a million jobs to a rise of 3 million. May and June saw a combined increase of more than 7.5 million, the fastest two-month rise in U.S. history.

The reason for those big gains, though, was the return of displaced workers who were laid off as the nation sought to stave off the Covid-19 spread.

Even with a three-month gain of 9.3 million workers either newly hired or back to their jobs, the total employment level remained 12.9 million below its February level. The May and June counts were revised up by a total 17,000.

“What the data continues to tell me is that we’re making progress from the pain that was most acute back in March and April. So we continue to have this recovery, but it’s uneven,” said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist for the U.S. SPDR business at State Street Global Advisors. “We still have a lot of wood to chop here, but we’re moving in the right direction.”

Markets reacted little to the news, with stock market futures pointing to a slightly lower open on Wall Street and government bond yields mostly flat.