The July Jobs Report: What is the Current US Employment Situation?

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their monthly look at the US employment situation and the data for July looks favorable. The labor department jobs report examines a range of US jobs data to gauge the overall health of the US economy, specifically the number of jobs added, the unemployment rate, and what industries are hiring now.

Before we get to the July jobs report, let’s revisit June’s US job numbers. Last month, the BLS reported that nonfarm payroll employment jumped by 224,000 jobs. The unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.7% (approximately 6 million professionals). A deeper look at the US jobs data and industries hiring in 2019 showed moderate growth in a few areas while others declined or registered no change at all.

• Professional and business services – 51,000 jobs added
• Healthcare – 35,000 jobs added
• Transportation and warehousing – 24,000 jobs added
• Construction – 21,000 jobs added
• Manufacturing – 17,000 jobs added
• Wholesale trade, leisure and hospitality, financial activities, retail trade – no change

The July jobs report showed total nonfarm payroll employment increasing by 164,000, unemployment holding steady at 3.7%, and the number of unemployed persons rising very slightly to 6.1 million. Here are some other highlights of the labor department jobs report:

• The number of long-term unemployed declined by 248,000 to 1.2 million in July, accounting for 19.2 percent

of the unemployed.

• The labor force participation rate registered a small increase and now sits at 63 percent.
• The number of people employed part time for economic reasons (AKA involuntary part-time workers) dropped by another 363,000 and now totals 4 million.
• Average hourly earnings for all employees on nonfarm payrolls rose by 8 cents to $27.98. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.2 percent.

July saw encouraging growth for a few industries hiring in 2019. Professional and technical services added 31,000 jobs for the month and has added a total of 300,000 jobs over the last year. Health care added 30,000 jobs, social assistance increased by 20,000 jobs, and financial activities edged up a little, adding 18,000 jobs in July. Mining employment declined by 5,000 in July, following little net change in recent months. Key industries like construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, and leisure and hospitality saw no change.

Overall, the labor department jobs report suggests the economy is in good shape. Whether you’re looking for top talent or searching for your dream job, there’s still plenty of opportunity out there, and you can find it on iHire.

For more information on how the BLS tracks and updates US job numbers and calculates the unemployment rate, check out this informative post on FiveThirtyEight.