With a headline number of 224,000 new jobs, the June jobs report could not have hit the sweet spot any better. Had it come in over 250,000, market anticipation of future Federal Reserve interest rate increases could have pulled hundreds off the Dow Jones Index. Had it come in under 150,000, fears of a slowdown would be in discussion. But 224,000 is just about right to maintain people’s confidence in a fairly robust economy, especially when combining that number with the 3.1 percent annual rate of increase in average hourly earnings. (Farm Bureau)