The U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, painting a bleaker economic picture as inflation remains elevated.
The latest employment report released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics ended a four-month streak of job growth. June job gains were also modest, with the economy adding just 20,000 jobs, below previous estimates.
Over the past decade, the U.S. economy has averaged 123,641 new jobs per month. In the past 19 months, monthly job growth has exceeded that figure only three times.
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The unemployment rate was largely unchanged in July at 4.1%.
Other indicators also point to a slowing economy. The labor force participation rate — which measures the share of adults who are working or actively seeking work — has fallen by 1 percentage point since November. The employment-population ratio has posted a similar decline.
Conditions also appear to be softening for workers who remain employed. Weekly earnings rose 3.4% from a year ago, but that increase has not kept pace with inflation, which remains above 3.5%.
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Taken together, the latest jobs data suggest the economy is not collapsing, but persistent inflation is beginning to strain the labor market.
ADP, which tracks private-sector employment, reported that private employers added 44,000 jobs in July. The report said pay growth was strongest among workers willing to change jobs.
“Job-changers are highly sensitive to real-time economic conditions, and their rapid pay growth implies supply constraints in parts of the labor market,” said Dr. Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist. “Typical hiring patterns, meanwhile, are changing as employers react to shifting macroeconomic conditions.”
