U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, a sudden reversal
The U.S. economy shed 23,000 jobs in July, a sudden reversal after four months of gains, with the unemployment rate ticking down to 4.1%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics revised down the previous two months by a combined 103,000 jobs. Wage growth slowed to 3.2% annually, below inflation at 3.5%. The labor force participation rate hit its lowest since February 2021. Sectors like local government education, retail, and financial services saw declines, while health care added 22,000 jobs. Stock futures rose and bond yields fell following the report.
The labor market is stalling again.
- astro1234
As a data scientist it is very frustrating to see a consistent lack of error bars on these numbers or any discussion about the magnitude of uncertainty around them by all news reports every time these numbers get released
- vannevar
I would hardly call it a sudden reversal, looking at the downward trend in the numbers over the last six months or so.
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/non-farm-payrolls
- nunez
> The BLS said employment contracted the most in “local government education,” which declined by 50,000 roles, likely reflecting teachers during summer break.
This is not entirely accurate. AFAIK, teachers usually remain on payroll throughout the summer. This stat _might_ be talking about contractual teaching roles, like adjuncts or subs, but it's hard to say from that BLS category.
- sp1982
I have recently started an experiment tracking a sample of 5000 employers in US and I see a bounce last week after a brief lull in july. I am not sure if there is a strong downward trend. https://corvi.careers/reports/usa-weekly-job-openings-report...
- forlorn_mammoth
What is also interesting is that the only sector thad added jobs was health care.
- ethagnawl
And, as a result, the market is ... up?
- jimmydoe
govt is resetting the baseline now, so we will see some good numbers in November.
it's all about optics for mid term.
- HarHarVeryFunny
These jobs lost/gained and unemployment statistics, especially on a monthly basis, and when the numbers are so small, are just noise. Seasonal adjustments alone (baseline assumptions on how many people should be employed) make them meaningless, as does the government definition of being unemployed or looking for work.
As far as the government is concerned if you have been looking for a job for so long and/or are so discouraged that you stop looking, then you are no longer "unemployed" since you are not looking for a job.
If you are software engineer who has not been able find a software job, and are now flipping burgers to at least have some income, then you have also dropped off the government stats since you now have a job.
And then you have the current president's habit of just lying about everything, and threatening anyone who doesn't support his lies, and it seems we have truly entered a post-truth world where "alternate facts" rule the day.
When you read headlines of companies laying off thousands of employees, that's real. When the government says they've retroactively adjusted their seasonally adjusted fake news, then not so much.
- jvdvegt
- Waterluvian
Meanwhile Canada is up 75,000 jobs in July. Can't wait to see the next tantrum America throws our way.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-jobs-july-2026-9.729...