U.S. nonfarm payrolls increase as expected in July

The U.S. Labor Department announced on Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased by 164,000 in July after a downwardly revised 193,000 gain in the prior month (originally an increase of 224,000).

According to the report, notable job gains occurred in professional and technical services (+31,000 jobs in July), health care (+30,000), social assistance (+20,000), and financial activities (+18,000).

At the same time, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7 percent in July.

Economists had forecast 164,000 new jobs and the jobless rate to stay at 3.7 percent.

The labor force participation rate edged up to 63.0 percent from 62.9 percent in June, while hourly earnings for private-sector workers rose 0.3 percent m-o-m (8 cents) to $27.99, following a revised 0.3 percent m-o-m gain in June (originally a 0.2 percent m-o-m increase). Economists had forecast a 0.2 percent m-o-m advance in the average hourly earnings. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.2 percent, following a 3.1 percent rise in June.

The average workweek decreased by 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours in July, slightly below economists’ forecast of 34.4 hours.