Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 187,000 in July, and the unemployment rate changed little at 3.5%.
Job gains occurred in health care, social assistance, financial activities, and wholesale trade.
Employment in leisure and hospitality continued to trend up in July (+17,000). The industry has shown little employment change in recent months, following average monthly gains of 67,000 in the first quarter of the year. Employment in leisure and hospitality remains below its February 2020 level by 352,000, or 2.1 percent.
In July, professional and business services lost 8,000 jobs. Monthly job growth in the industry had averaged 38,000 in the prior 12 months. Employment in temporary help services continued to trend down over the month with a loss of 22,000 and is down by 205,000 since its peak in March 2022. Employment in professional, scientific, and technical services continued to trend up in July with 24,000 added jobs.
Health care added 63,000 jobs in July, compared with the average monthly gain of 51,000 over the prior 12 months. In July, job growth occurred in ambulatory health care services (+35,000), hospitals (+16,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+12,000).
Read the BLS release.
