Friday’s June jobs report was not the surprise that business media made it to be. Employers added 287,000 new hires in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which was well above the 175,000 consensus estimate, but the long-term trend is a strong one and the big jump in June was merely a reversion to the mean. It’s also not a surprise that the trend continues to move lower as economic expansion reaches its eighth year.

Within the report were two noteworthy items. First, the categories of employment that grew the most were higher-paying sectors like IT, education and health services and professional services. Second was the continued growth in wages. Pegged only one-tenth percent higher in June compared to May, wages were nonetheless 2.6 percent higher year-over-year. That represents healthy growth over price inflation and a steady – if unspectacular – trend upward over the past year.