Wishy-Washy Work

The US economy created 164,000 jobs in July, bringing the average YTD gain to 165,000/month, down from 227,000/month through 7/18. The unemployment rate held at 3.7%, and wages grew a respectable 3.2% Y-o-Y. And, the broadest measure of unemployment hit 7%, its best since 12/00! But the workweek shrank, and (like in the last three reports) there were downward revisions to prior months. We’re clearly slowing, but still look fine.