US employers cut 23,000 jobs in July, sharply missing expectations for an 80,000 increase and marking a weaker-than-expected start to the second half of the year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The unemployment rate nevertheless edged down to 4.1%, while monthly wage growth slowed to 0.1% from 0.3% in June and was below the 0.3% forecast.
The headline payroll figure was made weaker by substantial downward revisions to previous months. June’s job gain was revised to 20,000 from 57,000, while May was revised to 63,000 from 129,000. The revisions reduced combined employment growth for May and June by 103,000.
Local government education accounted for the largest July decline, losing 50,000 jobs, followed by a 19,000 drop in retail employment. Financial activities shed 14,000 jobs and are now down 121,000 from their May 2025 peak. Health care added 22,000 jobs but continued to cool from its recent pace.
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