Payrolls increased by nearly 1.8 million in July, topping expectations despite coronavirus resurgence
Two months of record-setting payroll growth slowed in July but was still better than Wall Street estimates even as a rise in coronavirus cases put a damper on the struggling U.S. economy.
Nonfarm payrolls increased 1.8 million for the month, the Labor Department reported Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 10.2 percent from its previous 11.1 percent, also better than the estimates from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
An alternative measure that includes discouraged workers and the underemployed holding part-time jobs for economic reasons fell from 18 percent to 16.5 percent.
The consensus was for growth of 1.5 million jobs and an unemployment rate of 10.6 percent.
Click here to see the full report from Jeff Cox at CNBC.com.
However, there were wide variations around the estimates as the pandemic’s resurgence dented plans to get the shuttered U.S. economy completely back online. Forecasts ranged from a decline of a half million jobs to a rise of 3 million. May and June saw a combined increase of more than 7.5 million, the fastest two-month rise in U.S. history.
