'Meh': Economists React To July's Jobs Report On Twitter
Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 164,000 jobs in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, marking the country's 106th straight month of employment gains.
The unemployment rate held at 3.7%.
Industries relevant to commercial real estate, including construction and retail trade, saw little change in employment in July. Manufacturing employment has also changed little in 2019 after seeing industry job gains average 22,000 per month in 2018.
May and June employment numbers were revised downward in July's report, making combined gains for these months 41,000 less than previously reported. Following these revisions, job gains for the last three months have averaged 140,000 per month.
Here's how economists and others reacted to the jobs report on Twitter.
Job growth at 164K hits expectations, but downward revisions reveal deceleration of underlying trend from around 170K/month to around 140K. Slightly weaker labor demand or constrained supply? Wage trends--stuck a bit north of 3%--suggest possible demand softening.
— Jared Bernstein (@econjared) August 2, 2019
It sure looks like the pace of job growth is declining. Though to be fair, it is declining much later in the cycle than any forecasters had expected. https://t.co/m40mmZHXdU
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) August 2, 2019
The July employment report is consistent with both an economy nearing full employment and a softening in labor demand, either way is means slower growth and greater vulnerability to shocks like....trade war escalation#JobsReport #FOMC pic.twitter.com/fhfyaHTpXW
— Dr Julia Coronado (@jc_econ) August 2, 2019
We still make stuff, but we make stuff that requires creativity and ingenuity.
— Betsey Stevenson (@BetseyStevenson) August 2, 2019
We make apps for the iPhone rather than assembling the iPhone.
We make movies and television shows.
We make solutions for all sorts of problems through our new ideas. [2/3]
From late 2017 through late 2018, it looked like wage growth was picking up. THAT ENDED. Wage growth has flattened this year. #jobsreport pic.twitter.com/LqhcJGqSlY
— Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz) August 2, 2019
Now here's something fun - the tick-up in wage growth reflected acceleration in wage growth for low-wage industries, and a deceleration for high-wage industries pic.twitter.com/pP6begIOQo
— Martha Gimbel (@marthagimbel) August 2, 2019
The short answer is “meh” https://t.co/oEQH7HTEJU
— Angela Hanks (@AngelaHanks) August 2, 2019
"meh"#JobsReportInOneWord
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) August 2, 2019
A one-sentence summary of today's #JobsReport: "Job growth stays solid but wages disappoint--again." (For a little bit more detail, see https://t.co/2rwUCt3mzI)
— Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz) August 2, 2019
CORRECTION, AUG. 2, 12:50 P.M. ET: A previous headline on this story misstated the month of the latest jobs report. This story has been updated.
