On August 3rd the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the U.S. added 163,000 jobs for the month of July. Employment for May was revised upwards for the second consecutive month to 87,000; however, June was lowered from 80,000 to 64,000. The news drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average up by 217 points.
Through the first seven months of this year, the nation added about 151,000 jobs a month. This compares to a monthly average of 153,000 jobs for the first seven months of 2011. Since the end of the recession the U.S. has added net jobs in 25 months and lost net jobs in 12 months. Employment growth is consistently weak, but since October 2010 it has been consistently positive. About 3.1 million jobs have been added since the end of the recession.
About one-third of the monthly sector employment gains were in the Professional and Business Services, lead by the Temporary Help Services and Computer Systems Design sectors. Jobs were also added in health care, leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, and wholesale trade. Other major sectors were relatively flat.
On an upbeat note, the Conference Board is projecting stronger growth in the second half of 2012. Annual real output growth for the year will be about 1.9%.
Likewise, the USA TODAY/IHS Global Insight Economic Outlook Index calls for Real GDP growth to reach 2% in the latter part of the second half of the year. This index tracks 11 leading and financial indicators. The following four indicators increased – hours worked, real capital goods orders, the real money supply and light-vehicle sales.
On average, Colorado nonfarm employment is about 1.72% of the U.S. total. If Colorado grows at the same pace as the U.S. the upcoming August press release will reflect a gain of about 2,900 jobs.
©Copyright 2011 by CBER.