Author: Eddy Elfenbein
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The jobs report is out. Last month, the U.S. economy created 850,000 new jobs. The consensus was for 706,000.
The private sector added 762,000 jobs. The unemployment ticked up to 5.9%.
Average hourly earnings rose 0.3%. In the last year, average hourly earnings are up 3.6%.
Underemployment is 9.8% and the labor force participation rate was 61.6%. The latter figure has barely budged.
Hospitality continued to be the prime beneficiary of the reopening as workers returned to jobs at bars, restaurants, hotels and the like.
The industry notched a gain of 340,000 amid easing restrictions across the country. That total included 194,000 in bars and restaurants, but still left the sector 2.2 million shy of where it was in February 2020 before the pandemic began.
Other notable gains came in education, which totaled 269,000 across state, local and private hiring, while professional and business services increased by 72,000 and retail added 67,000.
The other services industry added 56,000 jobs, including a gain of 29,000 in personal and laundry services, a subsector that has been seen as a proxy for the resumption of normal business activity. Social assistance added 32,000, while wholesale trade contributed 21,000 to the total and mining grew by 10,000.
Manufacturing edged up 15,000 for the month, though construction lost 7,000 positions despite a sizzling housing industry where new building has been held back by supply shortages and what had been soaring lumber prices before the recent plunge.
Here’s the updated chart of nonfarm payrolls.
We’ve created a lot of jobs but we still have a long way to go.