"Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 187,000 in July, and the unemployment rate changed little at 3.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

Job gains occurred in health care, social assistance, financial activities, and 
wholesale trade.

This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household 
survey measures labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic 
characteristics. The establishment survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, 
and earnings by industry.

Both the unemployment rate, at 3.5 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, at 5.8 million, changed little in July. The unemployment rate has ranged from 3.4 percent to 3.7 percent since March 2022.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for Asians declined to 2.3 percent in July. The jobless rates for adult men (3.3 percent), adult women (3.1 percent), teenagers (11.3 percent), Whites (3.1 percent), Blacks (5.8 percent), and Hispanics (4.4 percent) showed little or no change over the month.

Among the unemployed, the number of persons on temporary layoff decreased by 175,000 to 667,000 in July. The number of permanent job losers changed little at 1.4 million.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 1.2 million in July and accounted for 19.9 percent of all unemployed persons.

The labor force participation rate was 62.6 percent for the fifth consecutive month.

The employment-population ratio, at 60.4 percent, remained little changed in July.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.0 million, changed little in July. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.

The number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job was 5.2 million in July, little changed from the prior month. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job.

Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of persons marginally attached to the labor force was essentially unchanged at 1.4 million in July. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, changed little at 335,000 in July."

THE PRIVATE SECTOR: Private sector added 324,000 jobs in July, well above expectations, ADP says.