Blew Past Expectations

The Trump economy added a surprising 224,000 new jobs last month, according to the June Jobs Report. The number of jobs U.S. employers added in June blew past Wall StreetOpens a New Window.’s expectation of 165,000. It was a stunning rebound from the 75,000 jobs added in May, a number that Friday’s report revised down to 72,000. Job growth was widespread with gains in manufacturing, construction and other sectors. The strong report allayed fears of an imminent economic slowdown.

We’ll know if the Fed was listening in about 30-days.

The labor force participation rate held steady at 62.9% while the unemployment rate ticked up slightly (0.1%) to 3.7%. The good news continued as wages increased by 3.1%. The June numbers showed a thriving U.S. economy. An economy that, despite higher tariffs on U.S. exports, is much healthier than the slowing economies of the European Union and China and, therefore, better positioned for ongoing trade negotiations.

Boosted Jobs Numbers Boost Trump’s Election Efforts

The jobs report and strong economy are a boost for President Trump’s re-election efforts. “We had great numbers this morning,” beamed President Trump to reporters. “And our country continues to do really well…we’re very happy about it. I think we’re going to — we’re going to be breaking records.” Conversely, the data laid waste to false Democrat claims of “a struggling economy” or “an economy that only benefits the rich” made in recent debates.

Strong economic news reduces the odds of the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates following their July 30-31 meetings but the Fed is hard to predict. Senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com, Mark Hamrick, said, “The array of headwinds associated with slowing global growth, trade disputes and tariffs haven’t gone away.” President Trump supports further cuts. On Friday he said, “If we had a Fed that would lower interest rates, we’d be like a rocket ship, but we’re paying a lot of interest and it’s unnecessary.” We’ll know if the Fed was listening in about 30-days.