Payroll Gains Exceeding Forecasts Signal Sustained U.S. Growth
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Employers in the U.S. added more workers than forecast in July, easing concern the three-year expansion is faltering. Bigger payroll gains may be necessary to reduce an unemployment rate that climbed to a five-month high.
Employment increased by 163,000 last month, helped by a pickup at automakers and health-care providers, after a revised 64,000 June advance, Labor Department data showed yesterday in Washington. The median estimate of 89 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a rise of 100,000. The jobless rate, based on a separate survey of households, climbed to 8.3 percent.