The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July for the sixth straight month and the first time that this happened since 1997, official data showed Friday.
The Department of Labor showed that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 209,000 in July.
It added the unemployment rate ticked up to 6.2 percent, compared to 6.1 percent in June.
Over the past 12 months, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons have declined by 1.1 percentage points and 1.7 million, respectively, the Department indicated.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Council of Economic Adviser Jason Furman said in a statement in this regard “this encouraging trend in the labor market is consistent with other recent economic indicators, including the strong second-quarter GDP growth reported on Wednesday.” “To ensure this momentum can be sustained, the President (Barack Obama) is pressing Congress to act to create jobs and expand opportunity, while simultaneously using his own executive authority to encourage investment in the United States, boost the income of working families, and ensure safe and fair treatment of American workers,” Furman stressed.
Source : KUNA Kuwait News agency