Fewer Jobs Than Expected Added In July As Unemployment Holds Steady

Fewer jobs were added to the economy in July than expected as the unemployment rate remained largely unchanged, according to a report released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

The monthly jobs report found that 73,000 jobs were added to the American economy in July, lower than the 100,000 that the Dow Jones had projected. The health care and social assistance industries saw job growth while federal government employment continued to decline. 

The industries of mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction, construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, and finance all saw marginal changes, the report said. 

“Both the unemployment rate, at 4.2 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.2 million, changed little in July. The unemployment rate has remained in a narrow range of 4.0 percent to 4.2 percent since May 2024,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics found. 

The report also said that average hourly earnings for nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.3% in July. 

Major revisions were made to the job reports from May and June, with the July report noting that job growth had been overcounted by around 258,000. 

“Revisions for May and June were larger than normal,” the report said. “The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for May was revised down by 125,000, from +144,000 to +19,000, and the change for June was revised  down by 133,000, from +147,000 to +14,000.”

In a statement responding to the jobs report, Republican National Committee Communications Director Zach Parkinson pointed to lower gas prices and the stock market.

“The Trump economy is delivering real results for American workers and families,” Parkinson said. “Prices for gas and groceries are down, inflation has fallen, the economy has added half a million jobs since January, wage growth is at 4%, and the stock market just reached record highs.”

Shortly after the report was released, President Donald Trump again called for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates. 

“Too Little, Too Late. Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell is a disaster,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. “DROP THE RATE! The good news is that Tariffs are bringing Billions of Dollars into the USA!”

The jobs report comes on the heels of the news showing that real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 3% in the second quarter and amid a flurry of new actions by Trump on tariffs. A wave of new tariffs is set to go into effect on August 7, even as negotiations with Mexico and China, two of America’s biggest trading partners, remain ongoing.