Topline
The labor market appeared to remain active despite losing some momentum in July, as the hiring rate sped up despite fewer job openings, according to federal data released Wednesday.
The number of job openings declined to 7.2 million in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, below June’s 7.4 million job openings and consensus analyst estimates of 7.37 million, according to FactSet.
Labor demand appeared to remain steady in July, however, as 5.3 million people were hired, nearly matching June’s total, while the number of layoffs and discharges remained unchanged at 1.8 million.
Labor Department data released in August indicated the unemployment rate rose in line with economist forecasts of 4.2% in July, while 73,000 nonfarm jobs were added, falling well below projections and less than half the 147,000 added in June.
Construction firms added about 64,000 jobs from June to July, the most of any industry—though it also recorded the biggest uptick in layoffs and discharges with roughly 49,000 more than in June. The manufacturing industry added the second-most number of jobs (41,000) and cut 6,000 more workers month-to-month, while financial services firms added 47,000 jobs and dropped 1,000 fewer workers than the previous month. Transportation, warehousing and utilities industries added 47,000 jobs, information firms added 13,000 and accommodation and food services added 14,000. Private education and health services had the largest decline in job openings, with 181,000 fewer job openings from June to July, followed by retail (110,000) and mining and logging (13,000). The federal government reported 135,000 job openings, an uptick of 18,000 from June to July, after laying off or discharging 5,000 workers.
The construction industry featured the largest increase in total layoffs in July at 49,000, followed by “other services,” which includes jobs around repair and maintenance, labor unions and personal services like barber shops and beauty salons, among others, at 29,000. Private education and health services, in addition to a steep decline in job openings, cut 22,000 workers, followed by a workforce reduction of 18,000 among arts, entertainment and creation firms. Professional and business services fired significantly fewer people (130,000) in July compared to June, when about 545,000 jobs were cut.
The labor markets improved the most by percentage in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with the next-largest improvements in Lake County, Illinois, the Chicago, Naperville and Elgin region in Illinois and Indiana, Brownsville, Texas, and Eagle Pass, Texas, according to BLS data released last month. Charlotte, North Carolina, recorded the highest growth for employment on the year so far among metropolitan areas with a population of at least 1 million people, followed by Salt Lake City and San Antonio, Texas.
A report on job openings precedes an unemployment data report from the BLS on Friday, the first for the agency since President Donald Trump fired commissioner Erika McEntarfer after alleging she manipulated jobs data during the 2024 election. Wall Street anticipates an increase in the unemployment rate to 4.3% in August from 4.2% in July, according to FactSet, as about 92,500 nonfarm jobs are expected to have been added. Trump nominated Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni to succeed McEntarfer, amid criticism by Democrats that Antoni is “completely unqualified” and claims he might abuse the role as an “extreme partisan.” Before Friday’s jobs report, ADP will report private jobs data Thursday. About 83,000 private jobs are projected to have been added in August, a decrease from the 104,000 added in July.