Another busy and cheerful week for the U.S with firm labor and growth data

If truth be told the awaited jobs report that was released throughout the end of the month and week on Friday showed that over 200,000 jobs were added in July for the sixth straight month by U.S. employers, the longest period since 1997, reiterating the growing confidence among U.S. employers about the economic outlook.

The 209,000 advance followed a 298,000 gain in June that was stronger than previously reported, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. Analysts by Bloomberg called for a 230,000 increase.

The unemployment rate climbed to 6.2% from 6.1% as more Americans entered the labor force.

Wages and working hours remained unchanged from the previous month.

While the labor market has improved, Federal Reserve policy makers this week said they will keep interest rates low until wages accelerate and more discouraged workers find jobs.

Plus this week it was shown that the U.S jobless claims declined over the past month in the U.S. to the lowest in over eight years, signaling further confidence by employers as the economy improves.

The four-week average of jobless claims, a less volatile measure than the weekly figure, fell to 297,250, the lowest since April 2006, from 300,750 the week before.

Also earlier the week a report showed that the U.S Private Sector employment increased by 218,000 jobs from June to July according to the July according to today’s ADP National Employment Report, indicating once again that the labor conditions remain firm regardless of an unstable recovery.

In fact the ADP Employment change showed that 218 thousand workers were added to the private sector in July; below the projected add of 230 thousand workers and from actually a stronger and larger prior add of 281 thousand.

Yet regarding the labor market the Federal Reserve there is underutilization of resources in the U.S. labor market as slack is still seen even with economic growth accelerating.

A range of labor-market indicators suggests that there remains significant underutilization of labor resources,” the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said this week in a statement in Washington.

The Federal Open Market Committee decided to taper monthly bond buying to $25 billion in the sixth straight $10-billion cut, on course to end the purchase program in October. Bond purchases will now be divided between $15 billion in Treasuries and $10 billion in mortgage-backed securities.

Fed officials led by Chair Janet Yellen are stepping up a debate over when to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006 as unemployment falls faster than expected and inflation picks up toward their 2 percent goal.

“The likelihood of inflation running persistently below 2 percent has diminished somewhat,” The Committee said.“Inflation has moved somewhat closer to the committee’s longer-run objective,” the Fed said.

Its preferred inflation gauge - the personal consumption expenditure price index - rose 1.8 percent in May from a year earlier. Its 12-month gain was as low as 0.8 percent in February.

Also this week’s growth report came in cheerful and better than the market forecasts to show that the U.S. economy rebounded in the second quarter following a slump in the prior three months that was smaller than previously estimated.

If truth be told the recent prior gains in consumer spending and business investment sustained growth and that the last Fed’s Beige Book had the Federal Reserve attest that the U.S. economic growth was modest to moderate as all of the central bank’s districts reported solid consumer spending and stronger manufacturing.

Now as shown this week by the Commerce Department the country’s Gross domestic product rose at a 4 percent annualized rate after shrinking 2.1 percent from January through March; above a projected growth by the market of 3.0 percent.

Also the country’s consumer spending or on other the personal consumption, which as we know is the biggest part of the economy, rose by 2.5 percent above the projected 1.9 percent to accordingly reflect the biggest gain in purchases of durable goods such as autos in almost five years.

Furthermore consumer spending rose in June by the most in three months, ending the quarter on a strong note and signaling that job growth will bolster the world’s largest economy, a Commerce Department report showed today.

Household outlays, which account for about 70 percent of the economy, climbed 0.4 percent after a 0.3 percent gain in May that was larger than previously estimated.

A strengthening job market is supporting consumer confidence and giving households the means to spend as the economic expansion heads into its sixth year. Companies such as Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. are optimistic sales will keep improving in the coming months.

And all in all this week’s cheerful growth report indicates clearly that the economy is poised for a much faster growth sustained by the ongoing firm business conditions, enhanced labor conditions and overall improvement of the economy’s sector.