Steadily improving US jobs supportive of Fed rate hike

 US employment rose at a solid clip in July and wages rebounded after a surprise stall in the prior month, signs of an improving economy that could open the door wider to a Federal Reserve interest rate hike in September. Nonfarm payrolls increased 215,000 last month as a pickup in construction and manufacturing employment offset further declines in the mining sector, the Labor Department said on Friday. The unemployment rate held at a seven-year low of 5.3 per cent. Payrolls data for May and June were revised to show 14,000 more jobs created than previously reported. In addition, the average workweek increased to 34.6 hours, the highest since February, from 34.5 hours in June. Though hiring has slowed from last year's robust pace, it remains at double the rate needed to keep up with population growth. The Fed last month upgraded its assessment of the labor market, describing it as continuing to "improve, with solid job gains and declining unemployment." Average hourly earnings increased five cents, or 0.2 per cent, last month after being flat in June. That put them 2.1 per cent above their year-ago level, but left them well shy of the 3.5 per cent growth rate economists associate with full employment.    — NDTV