National job growth slows

The U.S. economy continued to add jobs in July, though at a slower pace than the number added earlier this year.

Non-farm payroll jobs increased by 215,000 last month, a solid number but still down from the average of 235,000 jobs that were added during April, May, and June, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The national unemployment rate remained unchanged last month at 5.3 percent. The number of U.S. residents participating in the labor force – 62.6 percent, was also unchanged.

Labor Department officials also revised their original jobs estimates for May and June, adding 6,000 and 8,000 jobs for those two months respectively.

Average hourly earnings of workers in the private sector rose five cents, or 0.2 percent, to $24.99.

Year-over-year, wages were up only 2.1 percent, the Labor Department reported.

“All in all it was a good month for jobs,” said Jordan Levine, economist and director of economic research at Beacon Economics in Los Angeles. “The economy is still up against some economic headwinds, including the problems in China and Greece, but on the overall things are still strong, and consumers are still spending.

“If you fold these numbers into what we’ve seen so far this year, the overall picture is pretty good.”