Regarding Friday's surprising national jobs report, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) said Monday:
NAM's statement comes on the heels of Friday's U.S. employment report for June, which showed that nonfarm payrolls for the entire nation and all sectors rose 287,000. The rise was much stronger than expected and far exceeds the addition of just 11,000 jobs in May.
Manufacturers cheered June's upbeat news but noted that they are still struggling with sluggish international demand from Canada, China and Brazil as well as parts of Europe. The high U.S. dollar, negative currency exchange rates, plus slow-downs in the mining, ag equipment and oil and gas sectors have curbed U.S. factory orders nationwide.
Minnesota manufacturers have struggled with the same issues this year but also noted that they have had trouble finding enough workers to fill jobs for the divisions of their companies that are growing. June's upbeat job report gave hope that perhaps the employment saga is improving.
