The latest jobs report significantly beat forecasts by 75,000 [Xinhua]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its latest report Friday that the US economy added 255,000 jobs in July, beating forecasts and registering at the highest level so far in 2016.
The upbeat report comes after less than encouraging data last week which showed that US GDP growth had slowed significantly.
On July 29, the Department of Commerce said that the US economy had grown at a seasonally adjusted rate of just 1.2 per cent in the second quarter, far less than the 2.5 per cent predict by markets.
To make things worse, the Department of Commerce also revised downward its first quarter data for GDP growth from 1.1 per cent to just 0.8 per cent.
The latest report is likely to further frustrate investors who see a strong labor market, strong consumer confidence and a stable real estate market.
It will also likely compound the Federal Reserve’s conundrum whether to raise interest rates in September.
In their latest minutes, members of the Federal Open Market Committe had expressed hopes that investments would increase in the third quarter, thus validating a move to raise rates.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
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