Jobs report nixes threat of recession

The U.S. added 372,000 jobs in June, according to the latest labor reports released Friday, alleviating — somewhat — concerns of a looming recession. Inflation remains a concern as are home sales and manufacturing are also tenuous.

By

National News

July 8, 2022 - 3:20 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) — A strong hiring report for June has assuaged fears that the U.S. economy might be on the cusp of a recession — and highlighted the resilience of the nation’s job market.

Yet the figures the government released Friday also spotlighted the sharp divide between the healthy labor market and the rest of the economy: Inflation has soared to 40-year highs, consumers are increasingly gloomy, home sales and manufacturing are weakening and the economy might actually have shrunk for the past six months.

The contrasting picture suggests an economy at a crossroads. Strong hiring and wage growth could help stave off recession. Or, conversely, painful inflation and steadily higher borrowing rates engineered by the Federal Reserve could discourage consumer and business spending and weaken growth, eventually leading businesses to scale back hiring or even cut jobs.

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