By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Senior National
Correspondent
The U.S. economy added just 73,000 jobs in July, continuing a three-month trend of sluggish growth, according to the latest data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 percent, with little movement across key sectors.
While health care and social assistance industries posted modest gains, federal government employment continued its decline, shedding 12,000 jobs in July and bringing total losses in the sector to 84,000 since January.
The overall number of unemployed individuals stood at 7.2 million in July. Black workers continued to face a disproportionately high unemployment rate at 7.2 percent—nearly double the rate for white workers, which remained at 3.7 percent. Hispanic workers saw a jobless rate of 5.0 percent, while Asian workers had a jobless rate of 3.9 percent.
Teenagers experienced the highest unemployment rate of any group at 15.2 percent, while adult men and women reported 4.0 percent and 3.7 percent unemployment, respectively. The labor force participation rate remained at 62.2 percent, continuing a yearlong decline of 0.5 percentage points. The employment-population ratio also changed little, standing at 59.6 percent, down 0.4 percentage points over the past year.
The number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or longer rose to 1.8 million in July, an increase of 179,000, and now accounts for nearly one-quarter of all unemployed individuals. Meanwhile, the number of new entrants to the labor market—those looking for their first job—rose by 275,000 to 985,000. Wage growth continued modestly. Average hourly earnings for all private-sector non-farm employees increased by 12 cents to $36.44, marking a 3.9 percent increase over the past 12 months. Production and nonsupervisory workers saw average hourly wages rise by 8 cents to $31.34.
Job gains were most notable in the health care sector, which added 55,000 positions, including 34,000 in ambulatory services and 16,000 in hospitals. Social assistance added 18,000 jobs, primarily driven by a 21,000 increase in individual and family services. But nearly all other major industries—including manufacturing, construction, retail, professional services, and transportation—saw little to no job growth.
The average workweek for all employees edged up slightly to 34.3 hours. For production and nonsupervisory workers, the workweek increased to 33.7 hours. Revisions to previous reports revealed a much weaker job market than initially reported. The May payroll number was revised down by 125,000 to 19,000 jobs, and June’s total was lowered by 133,000 to just 14,000. Combined, these adjustments wiped out 258,000 jobs from prior estimates. The BLS noted that employees on paid leave or receiving ongoing severance are still counted as employed in their surveys.
The following employment report, covering August 2025, is scheduled for release on Friday, September 5.
