The US economy added fewer jobs than forecast in July, according to a report released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The report showed that 73,000 jobs were added during the month, falling short of the 100,000 projected by Dow Jones. Health care and social assistance saw the largest gains. Federal government employment, unsurprisingly, experienced a decline. Other sectors, such as mining, construction, manufacturing, retail trade, and finance, showed only marginal changes.
“Both the unemployment rate, at 4.2 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.2 million, changed little in July. The unemployment rate has remained in a narrow range of 4.0 percent to 4.2 percent since May 2024,” the BLS noted.
The agency also revised job growth for previous months downward.
“Revisions for May and June were larger than normal,” the report added. “The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for May was revised down by 125,000, from +144,000 to +19,000, and the change for June was revised down by 133,000, from +147,000 to +14,000.”
In response to the report, President Donald Trump once again called on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.
“Too Little, Too Late. Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell is a disaster,” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social. “DROP THE RATE! The good news is that Tariffs are bringing Billions of Dollars into the USA!”
Despite the weaker jobs data, the US economy posted a 3 percent increase in real GDP for the second quarter of 2025, amid the president’s ongoing tariff policies. Additional tariffs are set to take effect during the first week of August, as trade negotiations between the US and its partners continue.
