Mark Whitehouse, Columnist

Think About the Cable Guy's Job, Mr. President

Employment in certain services looks a lot more vulnerable than manufacturing work.

August 4, 2017 at 2:39 PM UTC

Mark Whitehouse is a member of the editorial board covering global economics and finance. Previously, he reported on economics for the Wall Street Journal and was managing editor of Vedomosti, a Russian-language business daily.

Vanishing breed.
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg

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President Donald Trump talks a lot about bringing manufacturing jobs back to America. Judging from the latest employment data, he should be more concerned about department-store workers and the cable guy.

Overall, the jobs report for July showed employers still very much in hiring mode. They added an estimated 209,000 jobs, bringing the three-month average to 195,000 -- more than enough to provide work for a growing population. The unemployment rate declined slightly to 4.3 percent, suggesting that the economy is running at close to full capacity.