The U.S. Labor Department reported on Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased
by 187,000 in July after a downwardly revised 185,000 gain (from 209,000) in June.
That represented the
lowest monthly advance since a decrease in December 2020 (-268,000).
According to the report, the largest job gains occurred in health care (+63,000), social
assistance (+24,000), financial activities (+19,000), and wholesale trade (+18,000).
The unemployment rate slipped to 3.5 per cent in July from an unrevised
3.6 per cent in the prior
month.
Economists had predicted the nonfarm payrolls to rise by 200,000 and the
jobless rate to stay unchanged at 3.6 per cent.
The labour force participation rate remained steady at 62.6 per cent in July, while hourly earnings for
private-sector workers jumped 0.4 per cent m-o-m (or $0.14) to $33.74, the same
pace as in June. Economists had forecast the average hourly
earnings to grow 0.3 per cent m-o-m in July. Over the year, the average hourly
earnings climbed 4.4 per cent in July, the same pace as in the previous three
months. Economists had expected the annual wage growth to slow to 4.2 per
cent in July.
The average workweek edged down 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours last month, being slightly below economists' prediction of 34.4
hours.