Wages showed no growth in June, but the Federal Reserve is still likely to raise short-term interest rates in September, according to one economist. ’55 percent of the increase in jobs we saw were low paying jobs, such as retail, temporary positions, and restaurants,’ said ITG’s Chief Economist Steve Blitz. ‘September is still our base case for a Fed rate hike.’ Average hourly wages remained unchanged during the month and rose 2 percent over the past year. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.3 percent from 5.5 percent in May. The jobs numbers for May were revised lower to 254,000 from a previously reported 280,000. April’s numbers were also changed to 187,000 from 221,000. ‘Job growth is slower than last year, but it’s still supportive of at least 2-2.5 percent real growth and we’re only talking about a move in the Fed funds rate from 12 to 25 basis points.’ He also thinks financial stocks are a ‘good buy’ amid rising rates. Shares of Bank of America (BAC) and JPMorgan (JPM) slipped almost 1 percent on Thursday. TheStreet’s Scott Gamm has details from New York.
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