Employment falls in US and Canada but economic data more positive elsewhere

The US employment report on Friday was disappointing. Reuters reports:

Overall non-farm payrolls fell 131,000 last month, the Labor Department said on Friday, the second straight monthly decline as temporary government jobs to conduct the decennial census dropped by 143,000.

Private employment, a better gauge of labor market health, rose a modest 71,000 after gaining just 31,000 in June. The government revised payrolls for May and June to show 97,000 fewer jobs than previously reported.

Canada also unexpectedly lost jobs in July, employment falling by 9,300 in July, the first decline this year, following a 93,200 increase in June. The jobless rate rose to 8 percent from 7.9 percent.

The economic data elsewhere were somewhat more positive.

In Japan, the composite indices turned positive in June after having declined in May. The coincident index rose to 101.3 in June from 101.2 in May while the leading index rose to 98.9 from 98.6.

The data from Europe released on Friday were mixed but still mostly positive. From Reuters:

The Bank of Spain highlighted a divide between strength in Europe's largest economies and a less impressive rebound in the currency zone's laggards, estimating the Spanish economy grew by an anaemic 0.2 percent in the second quarter...

Italian GDP grew by 0.4 percent from the first quarter but the euro zone as a whole is expected to have expanded by 0.6 percent or more in the second quarter, suggesting much stronger growth from the likes of Germany...

German industry output dropped by 0.6 percent on the month in June but following sharp rises in April and May, was up 5.4 percent over the second quarter as a whole, the biggest quarterly gain since German reunification in 1990...

France's trade deficit fell more than expected in June as exports hit their highest level in nearly two years helped by higher trade with China.

In the UK, industrial production unexpectedly fell 0.5 percent in June but this was mainly due to an early start to seasonal oil field maintenance. Manufacturing output rose 0.3 percent in June, the same as in May.