US economy adds 943K jobs in July, blowing past expectations

U.S. employers hired more workers than expected last month as a number of states ended extended unemployment benefits before the September expiration.  

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 943,000 workers in July as the unemployment rate fell to 5.4%, the Labor Department said Friday. Analysts surveyed by Refintiv were expecting 870,000 jobs gained and the unemployment rate to fall to 5.7% from 5.9%. June’s reading was revised higher by 88,000 jobs to 938,000. 

"Although there have been some cracks in the armor, today’s jobs number showed that once again our economy is incredibly resilient and moving forward," said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at LPL Financial.

Notable job gains were seen in leisure and hospitality (+380,000), which saw two-thirds of the jobs gained in food services and drinking places. Public and private education (+261,000), professional and business services (+60,000), transportation and warehousing (+50,000) also saw sizable gains. Construction and wholesale trade were little changed.