With a headline number of 224,000 new jobs, the June jobs report could not have hit the sweet spot any better. Had it come in over 250,000, market anticipation of future Federal Reserve interest rate increases could have pulled hundreds off the Dow Jones Index. Had it come in under 150,000, fears of a slowdown would have had the talking heads ranting. But 224,000 is just about right to maintain people’s confidence in a fairly robust economy, especially when combining that number with the 3.1% annual rate of increase in average hourly earnings.
Construction jobs were up by 21,000 slots; nonresidential specialty trade employees made up 12,000 of that figure, with residential building construction jobs adding another 4,600. June’s manufacturing figures were much better than last month’s, adding 17,000 positions, as opposed to only 3,000 last month. Computers and electronic products contributed 6,500 new jobs. Out of the 17,000 total jobs added in manufacturing, nondurable jobs grew by 5,000 positions. Jobs in plastics and rubber product production were the biggest gainers.