Our nation’s labor market added 163,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in July, which exceeded all forecasts and represented the country’s strongest July job growth since 2006.
The unemployment rate remained essentially unchanged at 8.3 percent, while the share of long-term unemployed fell to its lowest level since 2009. The Latino unemployment rate dropped nearly a percentage point last month to 10.3 percent.
![Monthly Change in Total Private Employment, February 2008 - July 2012](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130218021947im_/http://social.dol.gov/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Monthly-Private-Emp-Change-07-121.jpg)
Monthly Change in Total Private Employment, February 2008 - July 2012. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics Program.
Over 29 straight months of private sector job growth, the economy has created 4.5 million jobs that didn’t exist when President Obama came to office, including 172,000 new private sector jobs in July and 1.1 million generated in 2012 alone. We still have more work to do to help every American looking for work find a good job, but this report reinforces that we remain on the right track. If we continue to invest in the American worker and avoid wrong-headed tax increases on middle-class families, we’ll stay on our current trajectory to achieve a full recovery in record time.
July’s job growth was broad-based and reached nearly every sector. With bipartisan cooperation, I believe we can grow jobs even faster. For instance, over the last 30 months, our manufacturing sector has seen its largest job gains since 1989. We added 25,000 new manufacturing jobs last month alone, but we could grow this number in the months ahead if Congress would embrace President Obama’s proposal to end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and instead reward companies that bring good jobs home. Unfortunately, obstructionists on Capitol Hill blocked the administration’s common-sense plan to do so.
One of the most damaging things we could do to our recovery is raise taxes on the middle class. We know that spending by the middle class stimulates growth, and that spending on the middle class generates a ripple effect throughout our economy. Keeping earnings in the pockets of hardworking families to spend on our economy helps our job creators grow their businesses and make new hires. The efforts by some in Congress to hold middle-class tax relief hostage to more tax cuts for the wealthy is deeply irresponsible and unhelpful to our recovery.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
The U-6 Index puts unemployment at 15% Hilda the true level.
I also see you made mention of the latino unemploymet rate that dropped 1 percentage point.Again why are you making light of that were all Americans across the board Hilda!
Then you talk about not creating taxes on the middle class, how could they the middle class is already gone,just us lower class left Hilda.
God bles the the U.S.A.
Gregg S
PROUD NAVY DAD
OH Another thing you said Hilda is that the middle class spending stimulates growth?
Well this former middle class family spends alot of time at yard sales now to look for our needs including clothes.
Not sure how much of that spending at yard sales will boost our economy?
I’LL call Bernanke on that Hilda and get his input.
Thanks
Gregg S
PROUD NAVY DAD
Thats a very good news, but the unemployment rate still continued to grow further that month. This is not good enough then.
Ms Solis with so many millions of unemployed tax paying American citizins out of work how do you justify hireing more investigators into OSHA’s 11(c) whistleblower protection program? It has been well known that this program has not worked for years and even according to the assistant director for OSHA Dr David Michaels this program is poor where he stated that less than 2% are put through as whistleblowers and that this is showing him something is wrong and that this program is still heading down that same disapointing vein.
There are numerous government watch dog groups that have been complaining about this for how many years Hilda? One watch dog group stated about this program “Workers who contact OSHA about safety concerns are like lambs being led to slaughter” i think that sums up how pathetic this program is and how many famlies are you destroying when they come forward with no protection with OSHA?
Even after you threw how many more investigators at this program you made little change to it but just shift responsobilites around.
So could you please explain to the American people how much this program is costing us tax payers?
Gregg
PROUD NAVY DAD
You know, spending money at a yard sale puts money in the pocket of the person having the yard sale…which stimulates the economy too!!!