U.S. data good, but not good enough

After the Draghi’s drag, deciding not to take any immediate action to stop the euro bleeding, markets are digesting a very awaited yet not so bright U.S. job report. It was the best data in five months -July was the best hiring month since February- but still not sufficient to reassure.

MW AT470 payrol MD 20120803085004America added 163,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in July, the Labor Department said (compared to a revised 64,000 jobs in June) but we can also add a rise in the unemployment rate and the exodus of 150,000 people from the workforce. The private sector expands by 172,000 positions, up from 73,000 in June. The rate ticked up to 8.3% from 8.2%.

Some described this job report as a “good news, bad news” one for president Obama. In the race for his re-election to the White House, his aides can point to the employment creation, higher than expected in February, although Republicans can also attack him on the increased jobless rate. As Americans like to repeat, no U.S. president since World War II has faced re-election with unemployment over 8 percent.

About the Author

Ana Fuentes
Columnist for El País and a contributor to SER (Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión), was the first editor-in-chief of The Corner. Currently based in Madrid, she has been a correspondent in New York, Beijing and Paris for several international media outlets such as Prisa Radio, Radio Netherlands or CNN en español. Ana holds a degree in Journalism from the Complutense University in Madrid and the Sorbonne University in Paris, and a Master's in Journalism from Spanish newspaper El País.

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