The unemployment rate remained unchanged for the third consecutive month in July at 3.3%. The labour force participation rate eased slightly to 68.5% in July from 68.6% in June as a result of a higher number of outside labour force, up 51K to 7.21mil in July from 7.16mil in June. .

With the economy expected to grow around 4.5% in 2019, the unemployment rate is likely to stay around 3.4%. Despite the unemployment rate expected to remain at a steady level, the rising number of unemployed people is a concern — growing 2.0% y/y on average for the period of January–July 2019 in comparison to -0.1% y/y in the same period in 2018.

• The unemployment rate remained unchanged for the third consecutive month in July at 3.3%. The labour force participation rate eased slightly to 68.5% in July from 68.6% in June as a result of a higher number of outside labour force, up 51K to 7.21mil in July from 7.16mil in June.

• Meanwhile, the economy added 45.2K jobs in July from 12.1K in June while the number of unemployed rose to 524K in July compared with 521K in June. Year to date, the economy has added 193.8K jobs, which is a slightly slower pace as compared with the same period in 2018, which added 242.3K jobs.

• With the economy expected to grow around 4.5% in 2019, the unemployment rate is likely to stay around 3.4%. Despite the unemployment rate expected to remain at a steady level, the rising number of unemployed people is a concern — growing 2.0% y/y on average for the period of January–July 2019 in comparison to -0.1% y/y in the same period in 2018.

Source: AmInvest Research - 17 Sept 2019