Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 1.8 million in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Total unemployed persons fell 1.4 million to 16.3 million in July. Despite the large increase in nonfarm payroll over the month, unemployment still stands at 10.2%.
Large employment increases occurred in leisure and hospitality, government, retail trade, professional and business services, other services, and health care. Employment in leisure and hospitality rose 592,000 and accounted for one-third of the gain in nonfarm payroll. Food services and drinking places led the increase with 502,000 jobs.
Government employment rose by 301,000 jobs during the month. Local government education and state education government rose by 215,000 and 30,000, respectively. A July job gain in federal government of 27,000 reflected the hiring of temporary workers for the 2020 Census.
The civilian labor force participation rate was unchanged over the month remaining at 61.4%. Workers unemployed less than 5 weeks increased by 364,000 to 3.2 million. Unemployed workers who were jobless 5 to 14 weeks fell by 6.3 million to 5.2 million. The number of long-term unemployed (jobless for 27 weeks or more) was unchanged for the month at 1.5 million.
Average hourly earnings rose by 7 cents to $29.39, following large changes in recent months.
Read the BLS release.
