The latest official figures have shown that 130,000 jobs have been added last month by the US economy, slowing more than expected.
An expected increase of 158,000 had been anticipated by economists polled by Reuters. In July, the economy had created 159,000 new jobs.
While the average hourly earnings growth rose 3.2% from last year, the unemployment rate was left unchanged at 3.7%.
The strain of President Donald Trump’s tariff war with China and a wider global slowdown is being felt by the US economy. The president has been talking up the US economy in recent weeks amid growing unease about a potential recession.
Hiring in health care and professional and business services was up as was last month’s job figures, which were boosted by government hiring of 25,000 workers for the upcoming US Census.
The Labor Department, however, said that the employers added 20,000 fewer jobs in July and June than it previously estimated. And while pay and participation in the workforce increased, both remain lower than rates typical before the financial crisis of 2008.
In an attempt to keep the economy growing, the US Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates at its meeting this month.
In July, the central bank cut rates for the first time since 2008.
However, that was not enough to satisfy Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly called for a “substantial” rate cut.
Mr. Trump denied that troubles were brewing in his latest tweets on the economy.
The economy is great. The only thing adding to ‘uncertainty’ is the fake news, which was what he wrote.
He called into question the competence of Fed chair Jerome Powell, saying: Where did he find this guy Jerome.
The chief US economist at Capital Economics, Paul Ashworth, said the Labor Department’s report offered enough good news to make a dramatic cut by the Fed unlikely, pointing to the growth in wages and labor force participation.
Hiring remains strong enough to keep pace with growth in the labor force, for now, economist Gus Faucher of PNC Bank has said. But he predicted that jobs growth would slow further, given a slump in global growth and uncertainty over trade,
Although job growth will slow, the US economy should avoid recession- was what he stated.
