Employment

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index dropped to 100.6 in July from June's revised figure of 100.9, even as the Labor Department reported job growth of 117,000 in July and initial applications for unemployment fell to 395,000, first time below 400,000 in a long time. The unemployment rate dropped from 9.2% to 9.1%, however, about 137,000 'discouraged' workers dropped out of the labor market entirely. As the economy improves, these workers will jump back in. The Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that state and local governments shed 340,000 workers in the last year (611,000 since 2008).