According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate ticked down to 7.4 percent. In reality there is almost nothing to like about the July jobs report - a report that comes days after we learned that the GDP grew an anemic 1.7 percent last quarter.
Here are some of the lowlights:
- There were 162,000 new jobs in July. Expected: 180,000. Here's how stagnation looks in context, courtesy Marketwatch.)
- With the full implementation of Obamacare looming, it is no longer deniable that it is hurting growth. Of the 953,000 jobs created in 2013 only 23 percent were full-time. That means that 731,000 part-time jobs have been created. Here's what it looks like in context (via Forbes):
- Hispanic unemployment rate rose to 9.4 percent.
- The labor participation rate dropped to 63.4 percent from 63.5 percent.
- The BLS to also revised down the number of jobs added in June and May by a total of 26,000. Growing at this rate, it would take more than a decade to return to pre-recession employment levels. Here's how the Fairness Economy has been working out for us so far:
--------------
Follow David Harsanyi on Twitter @davidharsanyi.
