US labor market improves though unemployment rate at 50-yr low

WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (KUNA) -- US employers added 528,000 jobs in July as the labor market now has recovered all 22 million jobs lost in the Covid-19 pandemic and continued to defy soaring inflation, rising interest rates and a slowing economy.
The unemployment rate fell from 3.6 percent to 3.5 percent, matching a 50-year low, the Department of Labor reported on Friday.
Regarding the unemployment insurance weekly claims, the Department said that in the week ending July 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 260,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level.
The previous week's level was revised down by 2,000 from 256,000 to 254,000.
The four-week moving average was 254,750, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 500 from 249,250 to 248,750.
Hailing the July Jobs Report, President Joe Biden said "the unemployment rate matches the lowest it's been in more than 50 years: 3.5 percent." "More people are working than at any point in American history. That's millions of families with the dignity and peace of mind that a paycheck provides," according to a White House statement. "And, it's the result of my economic plan to build the economy from the bottom up and middle out. "I ran for president to rebuild the middle class - there's more work to do, but today's jobs report shows we are making significant progress for working families," Biden added. (end) rsr.gb