Friday’s jobs report was a strong showing for the surging economy, which has been bolstered by booming economic growth, a red hot labor market, and soaring confidence.
MARKETWATCH: U.S. Gains 157,000 Jobs in July; Unemployment Falls to 3.9%
“The U.S. added 157,000 new jobs in July to nudge the unemployment rate below 4% again in another solid showing for a surging economy.”
WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Jobless Claims Linger Near Lowest Levels in Decades
“New applications for unemployment insurance benefits edged up by 1,000 to 218,000 in the last week of July, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That slight increase was right in line with forecasters’ expectations, and means that claims are still extremely low by historical standards. Low jobless claims are a good sign, as they suggest layoffs are rare.”
CNS NEWS: 155,965,000 Employed in June: 11th Record-Setter Under Trump
“Following last month’s strong employment report, the numbers released on Friday were even better in some respects. The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics says a record 155,965,000 people were employed in July, the 11th record-breaker since President Trump took office 19 months ago.”
BUSINESS INSIDER: The US Manufacturing Job Market Hasn’t Been This Strong in Over 20 Years
“[T]he release showed that the manufacturing sector added another 37,000 jobs, the highest number since December. The latest addition also capped the strongest 12-month period for manufacturing jobs growth since 1995. Over the past year, the US has added 327,000 manufacturing jobs, the highest 12-month total for manufacturing job growth since April 1995, when the number was 345,000.”
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: U.S. Workers Get Biggest Pay Increase in Nearly a Decade
“U.S. workers received their biggest pay increases in nearly a decade over the 12 months through June, a sign the strong labor market is boosting wages as employers compete for scarcer workers. The Labor Department’s employment-cost index rose 2.8% in the year to June compared, the government said Tuesday. Wages and salaries, which account for about 70% of all employment costs, also rose 2.8% from a year earlier, the strongest gain for both measures since September 2008.”
CNBC: 58 Percent of Workers to Get a Pay Raise, Study Shows
“It’s a great time to be in the work force. With the labor market tight and companies increasingly competing to attract and retain qualified workers, 58 percent of employers plan to give out raises by the end of 2018, according to a report released Friday by CareerBuilder.”
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: US Consumer Confidence Edges Up in July
“The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 127.4 this month from 127.1 in June. The index measures both consumers’ assessment of current economic conditions and expectations for the future. Their view of current conditions in July was the rosiest since March 2001; 43.1 percent said jobs were ‘plentiful,’ most since March 2001.”
BLOOMBERG: Fed Describes Economy as ‘Strong’ for the First Time Since 2006
“So long, modest, moderate and solid. Strength is making a comeback. The Federal Reserve described economic activity as ‘strong’ in Wednesday’s statement, the first time it’s done so since it called it ‘quite strong’ in May 2006 …”
The economy is continuing full steam ahead after last week’s blockbuster GDP report, which many editorial boards credited to President Trump’s pro-growth agenda.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL BOARD: The Return of 3% Growth
“So much for ‘secular stagnation.’ You remember that notion, made fashionable by economist Larry Summers and picked up by the press corps to explain why the U.S. economy couldn’t rise above the 2.2% doldrums of the Obama years. Well, with Friday’s report of 4.1% growth in the second quarter, the U.S. economy has now averaged 3.1% growth for the last six months and 2.8% for the last 12. The lesson is that policies matter and so does the tone set by political leaders.”
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL EDITORIAL BOARD: Donald Trump Reveling in Good Economic News
“The Trump economy continues to shine. On Friday, the Commerce Department announced the economy grew 4.1 percent in the second quarter, the fastest for a three-month period in four years. That’s a far cry from the 2 percent that liberal pundits prophesied was the ‘new normal’ when Barack Obama failed to reach 3 percent growth for any of his eight years in office.”
NEW YORK POST EDITORIAL BOARD: GDP Boom: It Sure Looks like Trumponomics is Doing What Obamanomics Couldn’t
“The difference is huge: Already, the Trump boom has the unemployment rate at historic lows, including for blacks and Hispanics. And the tight labor markets are pushing up wages and pulling people who’d given up hope back into the workforce, two enormously positive developments.”
BOSTON HERALD EDITORIAL BOARD: So Far So Good On Economy
“The U.S. economy is supercharged. Second quarter growth rose to 4.1 percent. Although a full-on celebration of Trumponomics is premature, we must give him a lot of credit for the good news. Americans are spending their tax cuts and businesses are unrestrained by the burdensome regulations that hindered their growth potential for years. The president is pro-business to the core.”
WASHINGTON EXAMINER EDITORIAL BOARD: From Doom to Boom
“The U.S. economy grew at an annualized 4.1 percent in the second quarter, the highest rate since 2014. Last quarter was the fifth straight with more than 2 percent growth, a streak we haven’t seen since 2005-2006. The five full quarters of the Trump administration have averaged 3.19 percent.”