Newsroom
Unemployment rate sees slowdown in July
The U.S. economy exceeded expectations by adding 1.8 million jobs in July. NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long – in a new NAFCU Macro Data Flash report - credited the sharp slowdown to inaction on a new fiscal stimulus package and school closures.
"Prior months saw sharp increases in permanent job losses, but that was halted last month at a still-lofty 2.9 million," said Long. "Roughly 40 percent of the overall drop in employment from February to April has now been recovered, but that still leaves 15 million workers on the sidelines."
"It will take a long time to get back to those levels of employment, but the good news is that the labor market is demonstrating that it can continue to heal even at a time (mid-July) when COVID cases were growing," Long added.
Average hourly earnings rose 7 cents in July, driven by higher-wage workers returning to the job market. Of note, the May and June employment numbers were revised upward by 26,000 and downward by 9,000 jobs, respectively.
The labor force participation rate slipped to 61.4 percent, still significantly down from 63.4 percent in February. Leisure and hospitality continued to lead the way, recovering 592,000 jobs, followed by government (+301,000), retail trade (+258,300), and education and health services (+215,000).
"Consumer sentiment declined in July despite the job gains, and lower consumer demand will pose a more traditional headwind for the economy," Long concluded. "NAFCU expects job gains over the coming months to be positive but slower."
Share This
Related Resources
Add to Calendar 2024-05-03 14:00:00 2024-05-03 14:00:00 Plan Sponsor Attitudes Toward Retirement Plan Management and Fiduciary Outsourcing About the Webinar In January 2024, Pentegra conducted a survey of retirement plan sponsors and their perspectives on retirement plan management and fiduciary outsourcing. The survey measured how sponsors are using fiduciary outsourcing to help better manage their retirement plans. It also captured their perspectives on what outsourcing does to help them better position their plans and drive improved retirement plan outcomes. Key Takeaways: What is the full scope of your responsibilities as a plan sponsor? What is fiduciary outsourcing and how does it work? How does fiduciary outsourcing help reduce workloads and minimize risk? How can a credit union best position its plan to drive improved outcomes? Register Here Web NAFCU digital@nafcu.org America/New_York public
Plan Sponsor Attitudes Toward Retirement Plan Management and Fiduciary Outsourcing
preferred partner
Pentegra
Webinar
Turning Lemons into Lemonade: Capitalizing in a Post-Banking Crisis Era
Strategy
preferred partner
Allied Solutions
Blog Post
Ensuring Safety and Soundness with AI
Management, Consumer Lending, FinTech
preferred partner
Upstart
Blog Post
Add to Calendar 2024-05-02 14:00:00 2024-05-02 14:00:00 Mastering Resilience in Incident Response Plans About the Webinar An Incident Response (IR) plan is crucial for guiding credit unions through major incidents efficiently and effectively. However, many IR plans lack resilience, making them less adaptable to the evolving threat landscape. Join us for our webinar Mastering Resilience in Incident Response Plans where DefenseStorm cyber experts Elizabeth Houser and James Bruhl will delve into the importance of resiliency within cybersecurity IR plans. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn how to: Ensure IR plan accessibility so that all team members with assigned roles are prepared for effective incident response. Conduct efficient and regular reviews to ensure roles and responsibilities are current, tools are relevant, and compliance requirements are met. Implement and utilize tabletops to regularly test the effectiveness of your IR plan. Enhance preparedness, efficiency, and confidence among responders. View On-Demand Web NAFCU digital@nafcu.org America/New_York public
Mastering Resilience in Incident Response Plans
preferred partner
DefenseStorm
Webinar
Get daily updates.
Subscribe to NAFCU today.