July 2015 employment: small uptick in new jobs, unemployment rate steady

a release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate remained constant in July at 5.3 percent. About 8.3 million people remain unemployed, though 215,000 new jobs were created last month. Gains were primarily in the retail, health care and professional services industries. Over the past year, the previous average monthly gains hovered around 246,000 jobs, so July was a slower month for new jobs than expected. While 322,000 new jobs in retail have been created over the past 12 months, July only saw 36,000 new retail jobs. The bulk of those positions were in vehicle dealers and motor parts (13,000 jobs), though general merchandise stores saw small gains (6,000 jobs). Four hundred thirty-six thousand new healthcare jobs have been added since last July, and 28,000 healthcare jobs were added last month, with hospital jobs accounting for just over half of them (16,000). Food and drinking places saw 29,000 new positions, and professional services saw 27,000 new jobs last month with almost half falling in business management (14,000). About 376,000 jobs and 301,000 jobs have been added to those industries, respectively, over the past year. Financial activities, manufacturing and transportation saw gains of 17,000, 15,000 and 14,000 respectively, while the mining industry continued to see jobs disappear (5,000 in July). Since December, more than 78,000 mining jobs have been lost. The information, trade and construction sectors saw little change from June’s employment report.]]>