Key Points:
- Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 114,000 in July and the unemployment rate rose 0.2% to 4.3%.
- Jobs gains were below consensus among economists of 175,000 jobs gained and the average monthly gain of 215,000 over the prior 12 months.
- The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for May was revised down by 2,000, from +218,000 to +216,000, and the change for June was revised down by 27,000, from +206,000 to +179,000. With these revisions, employment in May and June combined is 29,000 lower than previously reported.
- Health care added 55,000 jobs in July, construction added 25,000 jobs, and transportation and warehousing added 14,000 jobs.
- In July, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by $0.08 to $35.07.
- The average workweek for all private employees fell 0.1 hours to 34.2 hours in July.
- The labor force participation rate changed little at 62.7% and is 0.7% below its February 2020 level.
- In July, the unemployed population rose by 352,000 to 7.2 million and there were 8.2 million job openings in June.
- The Right Facts will continue to monitor employment.