Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2021-08-06

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 943,000 in July, and the unemployment rate fell by 0.5 percentage point to 5.4 percent. Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, in local government education, and in professional and business services. Reflecting the initial impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the labor market, job losses totaled 22.4 million during the February-April 2020 recession (-1.7 million in March and -20.7 million in April). As economic activity resumed, job gains in May through November totaled 12.6 million. Employment declined again in December (-306,000), following a surge in the number of coronavirus cases. Job growth restarted in January of this year, and nonfarm payroll employment has increased by 4.3 million over the past 7 months. However, employment is down by 5.7 million, or 3.7 percent, from the pre-pandemic employment peak in February 2020. Strong job growth continued in leisure and hospitality, which added 380,000 jobs in July.