ECONOMY/JOBS: “U.S. private employers hired fewer workers than expected in June and applications for unemployment benefits last week increased for a third straight week, pointing to some loss of momentum in job growth as the labor market nears full employment.
Those signs were also evident in another report on Thursday [7-6-17] showing growth in services industry employment slowing in June even as the sector, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy, continued to expand at a healthy clip.
The moderation in job gains likely reflects difficulties by employers finding suitable workers amid an unemployment rate that is at a 16-year low. Even so, the labor market remains strong and tightening conditions could allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates again later this year.
‘The slowdown in hiring, in our view, is a function of the difficulty in hiring workers,’ said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York. ‘Companies remain very reluctant to lay off workers and this is a continued sign of the tightness of the labor market.’ “
-Lucia Mutikani, “U.S. private payrolls growth slows; jobless claims rise,” Reuters, July 6, 2017 12:53pm