Total nonfarm payrolls increased 1.763 million for the month, and the unemployment rate fell to 10.2%, both better than estimates.
Two months of record-setting payroll growth slowed in July but was still better than Wall Street estimates even as a rise in coronavirus cases put a damper on the struggling U. S. economy. Nonfarm payrolls increased 1.763 million for the month, the Labor Department reported Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 10.2% from its previous 11.1%, also better than the estimates from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. An alternative measure that includes discouraged workers and the underemployed holding part-time jobs for economic reasons fell from 18% to 16.5%. The consensus was for growth of 1.48 million jobs and an unemployment rate of 10.6%. However, there were wide variations around the estimates as the pandemic’s resurgence dented plans to get the shuttered U. S. economy completely back online. Forecasts ranged from a decline of half a million jobs to a rise of 3 million, with a report Wednesday from ADP showing a gain of just 167,000 in private payrolls fueling downside expectations. May and June saw a combined increase of more than 7.5 million, the fastest two-month rise in U. S. history. The reason for those big gains, though, primarily was the return of displaced workers who were laid off as the nation sought to flatten the rise in the Covid-19 pandemic.
