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Economy Gains 943,000 Jobs in July; Unemployment Down to 5.4%

Bureau of Labor Statistics

The U.S. economy gained 943,000 jobs in July, and the unemployment rate declined to 5.4%, according to figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In response to the July job numbers, AFL-CIO Chief Economist William Spriggs tweeted:

Last month’s biggest job gains were in leisure and hospitality (+380,000), local government education (+221,000), professional and business services (+60,000), transportation and warehousing (+50,000), private education (+40,000), other services (+39,000), health care (+37,000), manufacturing (+27,000), information (+24,000), financial activities (+22,000) and mining (+7,000). Employment in retail trade (-6,000) declined over the month. In July, employment showed little change in construction and wholesale trade.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates declined in July for Black Americans (8.2%), Hispanics (6.6%), adult men (5.4%), adult women (5.0%), White Americans (4.8%). The jobless rates for teenagers (9.6%) and Asian Americans (5.3%) showed little change over the month.

The number of long-term unemployed workers (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) decreased in July and accounted for 39.3% of the total unemployed.