Dive Brief:

• The number of non-farming jobs increased in July by 209,000, leaving the unemployment rate alone at 6.2%, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Friday Aug. 1.

• Employment rose in retail as well as construction, manufacturing, and other professional services. Retail trade employment, which includes jobs at auto dealers, food and beverage stores, and general merchandise, increased by 27,000 jobs in July and 298,000 over the year.

• Many economists, like those surveyed by the Wall Street Journal, expected little change in the unemployment rate and an addition of more than 200,000 jobs in July. Wall Street Journal economists, for example, predicted an addition of 230,000 jobs. 

Dive Insight:

The July jobs report did much to ease fears that the economy would falter again; watch for the focus to pivot to increasing wages and inflation pressures. But the important take-away is that these numbers indicate that the economy has gained, and is maintaining, a healthy momentum. What that means for retail workers may be another story, as portrayed in a NBC News report on retail workers, also published Friday.