Earlier federal data indicated hiring dropped sharply in July as the job market appeared to lose momentum.
Key Facts
The number of job openings declined to 7.2 million in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, below June’s 7.4 million job openings and consensus analyst estimates of 7.37 million, according to FactSet.
Labor demand appeared to remain steady in July, however, as 5.3 million people were hired, nearly matching June’s total, while the number of layoffs and discharges remained unchanged at 1.8 million.
Labor Department data released in August indicated the unemployment rate rose in line with economist forecasts of 4.2% in July, while 73,000 nonfarm jobs were added, falling well below projections and less than half the 147,000 added in June.What Industries Opened More Jobs In July?
Construction firms added about 64,000 jobs from June to July, the most of any industry—though it also recorded the biggest uptick in layoffs and discharges with roughly 49,000 more than in June. The manufacturing industry added the second-most number of jobs (41,000) and cut 6,000 more workers month-to-month, while financial services firms added 47,000 jobs and dropped 1,000 fewer workers than the previous month.
