23K Jobs Lost in July as Unemployment Rate Ticks Down

Today, the Joint Economic Committee released its Monthly Employment Update. In July, jobs decreased by 23,000 jobs (+30K private sector, -53K government), well off expectations. However, at the same time, the unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 4.1 percent while the labor force participation rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 61.4 percent. The broadest measure of unemployment (U-6, which adds underemployment to unemployment) remained unchanged at 7.9 percent.

Revised numbers from June show 37,000 fewer jobs, down from 57,000 to 20,000. May’s final revision shows 109,000 fewer jobs than initially reported, dropping to a revised increase of 63,000 from 172,000 initially reported.

From June to July, the best performing sectors were private education and health services (+25K) and construction (+22K). The worst performing sectors were state and local government (-50K) and leisure and hospitality (-40K).

From July 2025 to July 2026, the best performing sectors were private education and health services (+550K) and professional and business services (+115K). The worst performing sectors were federal government (-252K) and financial activities (-114K).

Year over year, for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, average nominal weekly earnings increased by 3.46 percent while average nominal hourly earnings increased by 3.15 percent. For production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls, average nominal weekly earnings increased by 3.52 percent and average nominal hourly earnings increased by 3.22 percent.

Job openings, a measure of labor demand, decreased by 178,000 in June. The total number of nonfarm job openings was 7.36 million, and the rate remained decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 4.4 percent. The best performing sectors were trade, transportation, and utilities (+71K) and financial activities (+58K). The worst performing sectors were private education and health services (-133K) and leisure and hospitality (-86K).

For the full Employment update and to see more details on the employment situation in each state, visit: https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/employment-update.

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