The U.S. economy added 214,000 new jobs last month, according to numbers released this morning by the Labor Department.
It’s the ninth month in a row with job increases of more than 200,000, a hiring clip last seen during the Clinton administration. Economists say that the economy needs to add least 200,000 jobs a month to stay ahead of population increase and bring the unemployment rate down.
Hourly earnings grew by just 3 cents, barely above the rate of inflation. The numbers confirm that incomes for 90 percent of Americans are stagnant or declining, while growing sharply for the wealthiest 10 percent of the country.
And while the unemployment rate fell to 5.8 percent, the lowest since 2008, the broader measure of unemployment, which includes people who are working part time but want to work full time and people who have just stopped looking for work, remains high, at 11.5 percent.
The Associated Press reports that worries about the economy were the top concern for voters this week, with nearly 60 percent of those who voted saying they thought the economy was stagnating or getting worse. Mike Regan, of Bloomberg News speaks with Here & Now‘s Sacha Pfeiffer about the report.
Guest
- Michael Regan, editor for Bloomberg News. He tweets @Reganonymous.
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