July payrolls up 1.76M; unemployment rate falls to 10.2%

July nonfarm payrolls: +1.763M vs. +1.6M consensus, 4.791M previous (revised from +4.800M).

Unemployment rate: 10.2% vs. 10.5% consensus and 11.1% previous.

Reflects continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it.

Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, government, retail trade, professional and business services, other services, and health care.

The labor force participation rate, at 61.4%, changed little in July, following increases in May and June.

That makes the July nonfarm employment lower than the February level by 12.9M, or 8.4%, points out RSM US Chief Economist Joseph Brusuelas. “There just are not enough jobs for the unemployed to return and should inform the urgency of another round of fiscal aid,” he writes via Twittter.

Here’s a chart posted by economist Jared Bernstein:

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 7 cents to $29.39, following large changes in recent months.

Average hourly  earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees decreased by 11 cents to $24.63 in July.

Change in total nonfarm payroll employment for May was revised up by 26K to +2.725M and for June was revised down by 9K.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3602837-july-payrolls-up-1_76m-unemployment-rate-falls-to-10_2