US Nonfarm Payroll Increases in July, but Unemployment Trends Higher

On Friday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 114,000 in July. This is below the average monthly gain of 215,000 over the prior 12 months

Notable growth occurred in the following sectors in July:

• Health care added 55,000 jobs, below the average monthly gain of 63,000 over the prior 12 months.
• Construction added 25,000 jobs, higher than the average monthly gain of 19,000 over the prior 12 months.
• Employment continued to trend up in transportation and warehousing, with an additional 14,000 jobs added.
• Transportation and warehousing have added 119,000 jobs since a recent low in January.
• Employment in social assistance continued its upward trend, adding 9,000 new positions, but at a slower pace than the average monthly gain of 23,000 over the prior 12 months.

Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade; financial activities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and other services.

The unemployment rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 4.3% in July, up from 4.1% in June and from 4.0% in May. The number of unemployed people increased by 352,000 to 7.2 million. These measures are higher than a year earlier, when the jobless rate was 3.5% and the number of unemployed people was 5.9 million.

Revisions

Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimate and from recalculations of seasonal factors. The gain in total nonfarm payroll employment for May was revised down by 2,000 to 216,000. The gain for June was revised down by 27,000 to 179,000. With these revisions, employment in May and June combined is 29,000 lower than previously reported.