HEATHER BOUSHEY
Boushey is an economist with the Center for Economic and Policy Research. In a statement issued today, the center said: “The economy added just 32,000 jobs in July, far below the expectations of most analysts. The weak July job growth follows an increase in June that was revised down to 78,000, bringing the two-month total to 110,000. This weak performance, following two months of healthy job growth, provides strong evidence that the labor market is not yet on a path towards a healthy recovery…. Wage growth continues to lag inflation. The average hourly wage has risen at a 2.8 percent annual rate over the last quarter. Consumer inflation is currently running at an annual rate of more than 4.0 percent…. The temp sector, a leading indicator of employment, has lost 6,000 jobs since May.”
Center for Economic and Policy Research

LEE PRICE, [via Karen Conner]
Price is research director at the Economic Policy Institute. He said today: “This is not the kind of robust job growth needed for a sustained, strong expansion of the economy…. This continued decline in job creation comes at the same time as real hourly wage growth is falling for most workers, and a recent government report shows 2001-2003 had the highest rate of long-tenured worker displacement on record.”
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