Unemployment Holds at 5.3%

The Wall Street Journal was right on the money: It estimated that 215,000 jobs were added in July and predicted that the unemployment rate would remain at 5.3%. That's exactly what happened. Writing for the Journal, Erik Holm notes that "this marks the third straight month of at least 200,000 jobs added. It’s the 10th time in past 12 months." Average monthly job growth for 2015 stands at 211,286.

The AP reports the numbers signal "a steadily rising job market and provid[e] a key piece of evidence for the Federal Reserve in deciding whether the economy can withstand higher interest rates as soon as September." At the Journal, Kristen Scholer observes, "Stock market futures deteriorated by a few points following the report, so the market seems to think this may make a September liftoff more likely." (More unemployment stories.)