The U.S. economy has added a mere 73,000 jobs in July, indicating a continued trend of slow growth for the third consecutive month, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.
This period marks the weakest three-month job growth since the onset of COVID-19.
When excluding 2020, it sets a record for the slowest job growth since 2010, shortly after the Great Recession, as highlighted by Women Forward on social media.
They attributed this stagnation to the ‘#Trump effect,’ specifically pointing to the ‘#TrumpTariffs.’
Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%.
In the Washington, D.C.-Maryland Metropolitan Division, there was a noticeable rise in unemployment despite job gains in the private sector.
June saw the unemployment rate climb to 5%, up half a percentage point from May and higher than the 4.4% recorded a year prior, according to the D.C. Department of Employment Services.
This area reported a labor force of 1,027,400, with 976,200 employed and 51,200 unemployed.
The regional rise in unemployment came alongside the addition of 4,300 jobs in the D.C. metro area, primarily driven by a 5,300-job increase in the private sector.
Conversely, the public sector experienced a loss of 1,000 jobs, including a reduction of 400 federal jobs.
Over the past year, the region overall gained 3,700 jobs, but the federal workforce alone saw a decline of 7,300 positions.
Nationally, the unemployment rates across different demographic groups remained mostly unchanged.
Black workers faced an elevated unemployment rate of 7.2%, nearly double that of white workers at 3.7%.
Hispanic workers recorded a 5% unemployment rate, while Asian workers came in at 3.9%.
The labor force participation rate across the United States was 62.2% in July, reflecting a 0.5 percentage point decline over the previous year.
The employment-population ratio also held steady at 59.6%, seeing a slight decrease from a year earlier.
There was a notable rise in long-term unemployment, with 1.8 million individuals remaining unemployed for 27 weeks or more, which marks an increase of 179,000 from the previous month.
Additionally, new entrants to the job market saw a surge, increasing by 275,000 to a total of 985,000.
Health care job growth led the national sector in July, contributing 55,000 positions overall, with ambulatory services adding 34,000 and hospitals adding 16,000.
Social assistance also saw a gain of 18,000 jobs, largely in individual and family services.
By contrast, the federal government lost 12,000 jobs nationwide in July alone, which marks a significant 84,000 decline since its employment peak in January.
Average hourly earnings for private non-farm employees rose to $36.44, representing a year-over-year increase of 3.9%.
Production and nonsupervisory workers saw a smaller increment, with wages increasing by 8 cents to $31.34.
The average workweek edged up slightly to 34.3 hours.
However, recent revisions to earlier job figures painted a bleaker picture of job growth than previously estimated.
May’s employment gain was revised down by 125,000 jobs to just 19,000, while June’s gain was also revised down by 133,000 jobs to a mere 14,000.
This adjustment reduced the combined two-month total job gains by 258,000 positions.
In the broader Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses parts of Virginia and Maryland, the unemployment rate increased to 4%.
The suburban ring around D.C. noted an unemployment rate of 3.7%.
The next national employment report is expected to cover data for August 2025 and will be released on Friday, September 5.
image source from：washingtoninformer
