July jobs data show some improvement in hiring

By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
                               

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The nation’s labor market showed some signs of improvement in July as job growth came in above market expectations, U.S. government data showed on Friday.

Employment outside the farm sector grew by 163,000 workers in the month, the Labor Department said. This is the fastest pace of job growth since February.

Wall Street had expected a fairly moderate 100,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls for the month, according to a MarketWatch survey. See MarketWatch’s comprehensive economic calendar.
Wall Street greeted warmly the size of the monthly increase, with U.S. stock futures /quotes/zigman/8750836DJU2+1.78% rising after the report was released.
The gain in July was concentrated in the service sector. Factory employment also increased. Read full government report.
Government employment slipped. Private-sector payrolls rose by 172,000 in the month.

Read more here...