Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation — 2007-08-03

Advance copies of this statement are made available to the press under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Nonfarm payroll employment continued to trend up in July (+92,000), and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.6 percent. Over the first 7 months of 2007, job growth has averaged 136,000 per month, compared with an average monthly gain of 189,000 in 2006. In July, employment rose in several service-providing industries and was little changed in the goods-producing industries. Average hourly earnings increased by 6 cents, or 0.3 percent. Employment in health care and social assistance continued to increase in July. The health care industry added 36,000 jobs over the month and 377,000 over the year. In July, employment gains occurred in doctors' offices, home health care, and hospitals. Over the year, social assistance employment rose by 99,000.