National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) Chief Economist Curt Long issued the following statement in response to the Labor Dept.’s July employment report.
“This was another strong report that checked most, if not all of the significant boxes. Aside from the strong figure for job growth, labor force participation and year-over-year wage growth each ticked up slightly,” said Long. “The labor market should remain strong as long as consumers maintain their robust spending pace. While this was a second consecutive strong jobs report, it will not be enough to move the needle for the Fed. For those policy makers in the “wait and see” camp, poor GDP growth and weak inflation provide enough justification for waiting at least until December for the next rate hike.”