Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 528,000 jobs in July, following the addition of 398,000 jobs in June (revised), according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A total of 22.0 million jobs have been added since the April 2020 low, and the latest job gains bring nonfarm employment back to its pre-pandemic level.
Most unemployment rates inch down
At 3.5%, the unemployment rate also returned to its February 2020 status in July, accounting for 5.7 million unemployed people.
There was little change to unemployment rates among major worker groups, but most declined slightly:
- Adult men: 3.2% (3.3% in June)
- Adult women: 3.1% (3.3% in June)
- Teenagers: 11.5% (11.0% in June)
- Black: 6.0% (5.8% in June)
- Hispanic: 3.9% (4.3% in June)
- Asian: 2.6% (3.0% in June)
- White: 3.1% (3.3% in June)
Job loss lessens, arrives at pre-pandemic levels
The number of people experiencing permanent job loss dropped to 1.2 million in July — this number is now 129,000 below its pre-pandemic level. The number of temporary layoffs for the month totaled 791,000, more or less reaching its pre-pandemic status.
Long-term unemployment (jobless for 27 weeks or more) also returned to its February 2020 level, dropping by 269,000 in July to reach 1.1 million (18.9% of the total unemployed). The labor force participation rate changed little at 62.1%.
The number of employees teleworking due to the pandemic remained at 7.1% in July. However, the number of people unable to work because of pandemic-related business closures rose slightly in July to 2.2 million. There were 548,000 people unable to look for work during the month because of the pandemic.
Job growth across all major industries
Leisure and hospitality (+96,000 jobs), professional and business services (+89,000 jobs), and health care (+70,000 jobs) added the most jobs in July.
Other notable job gains included:
- Government (+57,000)
- Construction (+32,000)
- Manufacturing (+30,000)
- Social assistance (+27,000)
- Retail trade (+22,000)
Average hourly earnings for private nonfarm employees rose $0.15 to $32.27 in July. This average has increased 5.2% over the last year.
