July Payrolls Rise 215K, Less Than Expected; Annual Earnings Growth Miss, Unemployment Remains At 5.3%

In a somewhat antticlimatic report, moments ago the BLS reported that July nonfarm payrolls came in at 215K, modestly below the expected 225K and down from the upward revised June print of 231K, and down from the 260K in May, with the unemployment rate flat at 5.3%, in line with expectations.

Overall, a number that was bad, but not bad enough to deter the Fed from hiking, if that is indeed what it plans on doing.

But while the headline jobs number was disappointing – if not enough to deter a rate hike – the one number that remains solidly in rate statis territory was the average hourly earnings growth: while AHE rose by 0.2% in July as expected, the annual increase of 2.1% was nothing to write home about, and 0.2% below the 2.3% expected, which may be the only reason the Fed would delay a rate hike following the endless jawboning of the past year.