US job growth slows more than expected in July
Job creation in the US continued at a steady pace last month although the number of hours worked fell.
Non-farm payrolls increased by 157,000 in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That was less than the 193,000 increase that economists had anticipated, but upwards revisions to the tally for the prior two months more than made up for the shortfall.
Non-farm payrolls for May and June were revised higher by a combined 59,000.
Weakness in hiring was concentrated in services and the public sector, with payroll growth in the former falling from 182,000 to 118,000. Hiring in government meanwhile fell by 13,000, after increasing by 14,000 in the month before.
In the goods sector on the other hand, employment growth was steady, rising by 55,000.
Average hourly earnings rose by 0.3% month-on-month, as expected, but the length of the average work week slipped from 34.6 hours to 34.5.
In parallel, the index of aggregate weekly hours fell by 0.2% month-on-month.
As expected, the unemployment rate ticked from from 4.0% in June to 3.9%, with the labour force participating rate steady at 62.9%.
"Better than it looks: the core trend is still 200K-plus. The swing in payroll growth from 248K in June to 157K in July looks more like noise than signal, but we can't be absolutely sure, given the clear dip in the ISM non-manufacturing employment index in recent months, following the initial of tariffs," said Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
"Other employment indicators,like JOLTS and the NFIB survey, remain very strong, though, so for now we're happy to stick to the idea that the trend remains 200K-plus."