U.S. adds 163K jobs in July, yet unemployment rises

The 163,000 jobs added by U.S. employers in July was slightly better than the 151,000 added during the average month thus far this year, but not enough to keep the unemployment rate from inching up to 8.3% from 8.2% in June. The figures were released this morning by the Labor Department. July’s hiring was the best since February. And despite the rise in the unemployment rate, some economists are feeling pretty good about the numbers. “After a string of disappointing economic reports … we’ll certainly take it,” says James Marple, senior economist at TD Economics. But some economists say the job gains need to be greater. Paul Ashworth, senior U.S. economist for Capital Economics, says July’s job gains were a “vast improvement” over the past four months. Still, he notes they were well below the average 252,000 jobs a month added from December through February. “It also isn’t strong enough to drive the unemployment rate lower, which is what the Fed really wants to see. So, on balance, we doubt this would be enough to persuade the Fed to hold fire in September,” Ashworth says. The Associated Press has the full story and more analysis here.