US jobs up by 201,000 as unemployment remains low
The US added 201,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate remained steady at a historic low of 3.9 per cent, new data has revealed.
Job were gained in professional and business services, healthcare, wholesale trade, transport and warehousing, and mining, according to the US jobs report published by the Bureau of Labour Statistics today.
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Average hourly earnings for all employees rose by 10 cents to $27.16 (£20.95), and over the year average hourly earnings have increased by 2.9 per cent.
The number of long-term unemployed citizens stayed flat in August at 1.3m and accounted for 21.3 per cent of unemployment.
Analysts said that although trade war remains a concern, with fresh $200bn tariffs on China potentially coming today, the US economy is "booming" and will continue to grow.
Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) senior economist, Christian Jaccarini, said: “Today’s strong job figures add to the evidence that the US economy is in fine fettle and almost confirm that the Fed will raise rates later in the month.
"Trade tensions and inflationary pressures remain a threat, but we expect that growth will remain robust this year.”
“The US labour market, yet again, added jobs at a solid clip. The booming economy has benefited from strong corporate profits, a decade of low interest rates after the financial crisis, and Trump’s tax cuts," Tom Carroll, director at investment manager Sanlam Four, said.
"Until wages grow at a greater rate the Fed is unlikely to diverge from its anticipated two rate hikes this year.
"Trade war concerns remain a potential stumbling block for growth, however, the agreement with Mexico points to the fact there might be an end in sight, easing investor fears."
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