oldreliable67

Non-farm payrolls fell by 62,000. The unemployment rate held at 5.5% in June. Prior months revised lower to show 52k more jobs lost in those months.

Average hourly earnings up by 6 cents, or 0.3%.

Payrolls have now fallen in all six months this year for a total job loss of 438,000.

Avg mfg workweek (a leading indicator) fell for the 3rd month in a row, to 40.8 in June versus 40.9 and 41.0 in May and April respectively.

The Index of Aggregate Hours worked, a reasonably good proxy for GDP, also declined for the third month in a row, to 107.0 in June, from 107.1 and 107.5 in May and April respectively.

Previously released consumption data suggested that Q2 GDP might be up as much as 2 - 2.5%. The unemployment data, particularly the workweek and aggregate hours data, suggest those expectations may need to be revised downward a bit. Consumption being the largest component of GDP, Q2 is still most likely a plus, but perhaps not in excess of 2%.