Fed's Barkin says July jobs data matches recent trend

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin said Friday that hiring data for July represents a continuation of recent trends.

The job data, which showed a decline in payrolls and little change in the unemployment rate, “was very consistent with how I've been seeing the labor market, which is, it's not loose, it's not tight,” Barkin said in a video presentation held by the National Association for Business Economics. “When you talk to employers, the employers still aren't hiring, and of course the good news is they're not firing either.”