U.S. adds 209,000 jobs in July, unemployment at 6.2%

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. added 209,000 jobs in July, boosting optimism that the country's economy is roaring once more, BBC News reports.

The unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 6.2%, latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics has shown.

The biggest job gains were in professional business services and manufacturing jobs.

Earlier this week, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew by a better-than-expected 4% during the April-to-June period.

In an encouraging sign, the number of people in the U.S. labor market increased slightly, meaning that workers who may have given up looking for a job have now begun to re-enter the jobs market.

The May and June jobs data were also revised upwards to show that the U.S. economy added 15,000 more jobs.

Some economists had been expecting even larger figures, but nonetheless said that there was nothing "bad" about the report.

"The downward trend [in the unemployment rate] remains intact, but there will be bumps along the way to normalcy," U.S. investment bank Jefferies wrote in a note to clients.

July is often one of the weaker months for jobs growth, which is one possible reason for the uptick in the unemployment rate. However, the figures are encouraging, as the U.S. economy needs to add at least 150,000 jobs each month simply to keep up with population growth, the BBC says.

This is the sixth straight month that the U.S. economy has added more than 200,000 jobs.