The job market slowed down considerably this summer, as employers added only 73,000 jobs in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, far short of expectations. The BLS sharply revised downward the number of jobs added in May and June and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2%.
The number for May was revised down by 125,000 jobs, from a gain of 144,000 to just 19,000, and the change for June was revised down by 133,000, from 147,000 to 14,000, for a total of 258,000 jobs lower than were previously reported.
The professional and business services sector lost 14,000 jobs, including 600 in accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services. Employment rose in the health care and social assistance sectors, but the federal government continued to lose jobs as the Trump administration continued its downsizing efforts. Federal government employment fell by 12,000 jobs in July, and is down by 84,000 since it reached a peak in January. That included employees at the Internal Revenue Service, where a recent report indicated over 25% of the workforce was gone as of May. Many federal workers signed up for deferred resignation programs that will keep them on the payroll temporarily.
Average hourly earnings rose by 12 cents, or 0.3%, to $36.44, in July. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased 3.9%.
The disappointing jobs report arrived as President Trump announced steep tariffs on trading partners across the globe.
“For the past year, the labor market has been treading water,” said Appcast economist Sam Kuhn in a statement. “Now, it appears to be cooling more rapidly than previously thought as overall employment gains were just 73,000 in July with significant downward revisions to May and June totaling 258,000 fewer jobs than previously reported for those two months. On the heels of the Fed’s decision to not cut rates on Wednesday, policy makers will be forced to make a tough decision between balancing elevated tariff-driven inflation against a weaker labor market.”
Trump announced Friday he was firing the BLS commissioner after the steep revisions to the job numbers were announced, which were the largest since the pandemic.
