Key Points:
- Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 528,000 in July as the unemployment rate fell slightly to 3.5%.
- Consensus among economists was a gain of 250,000 jobs.
- In July, the unemployed population fell to 5.7 million but there were 10.7 million job openings in June.
- Employment in leisure and hospitality rose by 96,000 jobs, professional and business services rose by 89,000, health care rose by 70,000, government added 57,000, construction added 32,000 jobs, and manufacturing increased by 30,000.
- In July, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by $0.15 to $32.27.
- The average workweek for all private employees was unchanged again at 34.6 hours in July for the fifth month in a row.
- The labor force participation rate was little changed at 62.1% in July.