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    Market Data

    July 7, 2020

    BLS Data Shows More Job Gains in June

    Written by Peter Wright

    The U.S. economy added 4.8 million jobs in June, exceeding analysts’ expectations once again, according to data released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. May’s job gain was revised up by 160,000 to 2,699,000.

    Figure 1 shows the total number of nonfarm workers in the U.S. since 1990. The net loss since February’s all-time high result stands at 14,661,000. GDP declined by 5.0 percent in the first quarter. Employment and wages are the main contributors to GDP because personal consumption accounts for almost 70 percent of the total. Steel consumption is related to GDP, but is much more volatile. Therefore, this is another insight into how bad the second quarter was and how bad the third quarter is likely to be for steel-related industries.

    Peter Wright

    Read more from Peter Wright

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