Investing.com – The U.S labor market continued to show signs of firming as the economy created more jobs than expected, although the unemployment rate was unchanged, coming above forecasts, according to official data released on Friday.
Non-farm payrolls rose 255,000 in July, compared to the rise of 292,000 in July that was revised from the initial reading of 287,000. The data beat the consensus estimate for the creation of 180,000 jobs.
The jobless rate remained steady at 4.9%, compared to the forecast for it to decline to 4.8%.
Average hourly earnings rose month-on-month by 0.3%, compared to the prior increase of 0.1% and coming above forecasts for an increase of 0.2%.
The participation rate increased slightly to 62.8%, from the prior 62.7% in June.
Additionally, the private sector created more of the new job contracts than expected in July with a total of 217,000, compared to consensus expectations for 170,000. June’s number was revised down to 259,000 private nonfarm payrolls, from the prior reading of 265,000.
Government payrolls increased by 38,000, compared to the creation of 33,000 public jobs that occurred in June, revised from an initial reading of 22,000.
Furthermore, the average weekly hours rose slightly to 34.5 in July. Analysts had expected them to remain unchanged at 34.4.
The dollar strengthened after the release, turning higher. The U.S. Dollar Index traded at 96.13, compared to 95.53 earlier. EUR/USD traded at 1.1089, from 1.1115 before the release, USD/JPY traded at 101.51, from 101.05, and GBP/USD was at 1.3080, compared to the previous 1.3153.
U.S. futures extended gains after the publication and, at 12:38GMT or 8:38AM ET, the blue-chip Dow futures rose 0.43%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.28% and the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.33%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,351.85 a troy ounce, compared to $1,367.05 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $41.77 a barrel from $41.81 earlier.