The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that the unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in July, with a loss of 114,000 jobs during the period. Despite these declines, nonfarm employment increased slightly, particularly in certain sectors such as health care, construction, and transportation and warehousing, while some other sectors, such as information, experienced job losses.
This press release provides statistics from two important monthly surveys. The household survey measures the state of the labor force, including unemployment rates, according to various demographic characteristics. The nonfarm employment survey, on the other hand, focuses on the number of jobs, hours worked, and earnings by industry.
Hurricane Beryl and its Impact on July Employment Data: Hurricane Beryl made landfall on the Central Coast of Texas on July 8, 2024. Despite the hurricane’s impact on the region, there was no significant impact on national employment and unemployment data for July. Response rates for both the household and establishment surveys were within the expected normal ranges. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release state-level employment and unemployment estimates on August 16, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. ET.
July Household Survey Data: In July 2024, the unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 4.3%, with the number of unemployed people increasing to 1.3 million. The overall number of unemployed people rose 352,000 to 7.2 million, both higher than the same period last year, when the unemployment rate was 3.5% and the number of unemployed people was 5.9 million.
Unemployment rate breakdown by category:
Adult men: Unemployment rate increased to 4.0%.
Adult women: Unemployment rate increased to 3.8%.
Teens: Unemployment rate increased to 12.4%.
Asians: Unemployment rate increased to 3.7%.
Hispanics: Unemployment rate increased to 5.3%. These categories saw little or no change in unemployment rates during the month.
Details about the unemployed:
Temporary layoffs: The number of people who were temporarily laid off increased by 249,000 to 1.1 million.
Permanent job losses: The number of people who lost their jobs permanently was unchanged, remaining at 1.7 million.
Long-term unemployed: The number of people who were unemployed for 27 weeks or more was 1.5 million, up from 1.2 million a year earlier. They accounted for 21.6% of the total unemployed in July.
Labor force participation rates:
The labor force participation rate: remained roughly flat at 62.7% in July, with little change over the year.
Employment-to-population ratio: Unchanged at 60.0%, down 0.4 percentage points over the year.
Part-time workers for economic reasons: The number of people working part-time for economic reasons rose by 346,000 to 4.6 million in July. These individuals would have preferred to work full-time, but were forced to work part-time because their hours were reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.
July Household Survey Data: In July 2024, the number of people not in the labor force who currently wanted a job increased by 366,000 to 5.6 million. This increase largely offsets the decline seen in the previous month. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they did not actively seek work in the four weeks preceding the survey, or were not available to take a job.
Marginally attached: Among people not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of marginally attached individuals remained steady at 1.6 million in July
July Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm employment rose by 114,000 jobs in July, below the average monthly gain of 215,000 over the previous 12 months. In July, employment continued to trend upward in some sectors such as health care, construction, and transportation and warehousing, while information manufacturing lost jobs.
Healthcare: Added 55,000 jobs in July, close to the average monthly gain of 63,000 over the previous year. Within this sector, jobs increased in home health care services (+22,000), hospitals (+20,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+9,000).
Employment continued to trend upward in the construction sector in July (+25,000), in line with the average monthly increase over the previous 12 months (+19,000). Employment in Specialized Trade Contractors The index continued its upward trend in July (+19,000) In July, employment continued to trend upward in the transportation and storage sector (+14,000), with jobs increasing in delivery and messenger (+11,000) and storage and warehouse (+11,000). The gains were partially offset by job losses in transit and ground passenger transport
((-11,000 The transportation and warehousing sector added 119,000 jobs since its low in January of this year.
Employment in social assistance continued its upward trend in July (+9,000), but at a slower rate than the average monthly gain over the previous 12 months (+23,000). Employment in the information sector fell by about 20,000 jobs in July but was little changed on the year. Government employment was little changed in July (+17,000). Government employment growth
Employment growth in the business sector has slowed in recent months, after posting larger job gains in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024.
Employment showed little change during the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade; financial and other activities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and other services
Wage and Hours Data Work for July
In July 2024, the average hourly wage for all employees in the private nonfarm sector increased 8 cents, or 0.2%, to $35.07. Over the past 12 months, the average hourly wage has increased 3.6%. For private sector workers, the wages of nonsupervisory employees increased 9 cents, or 0.3%, to $30.14.
Work Hours: Private nonfarm sector: The average workweek for all employees decreased 0.1 hour, to 34.2 hours in July.
Manufacturing sector: The average workweek decreased 0.2 hour, to 39.9 hours, and overtime decreased 0.1 hour, to 2.8 hours.
Nonsupervisory employees: The number of weekly hours worked decreased 0.1 hour, to 33.7 hours.
Employment Revisions: The change in total nonfarm employment for May was revised down by 2,000 jobs, from +218,000 to +216,000. The change for June was also revised down by 27,000 jobs, from +206,000 to +179,000. With these revisions, employment in May and June combined was 29,000 jobs lower than previously reported. Monthly revisions result from additional reports received by businesses and government agencies, as well as recalculations of seasonal factors.
