The Daily Money: Employers added 187,000 jobs in July

Happy, Friday, dear TDM readers!

Employers added 187,000 jobs in July despite high interest rates and inflation while the unemployment rate dipped from 3.6% to 3.5%. 

Payroll gains for May and June were revised down by a total of 49,000, portraying a somewhat softer spring labor market than believed. The June rise in employment was downgraded to 185,000 from 209,000. As a result, June and July mark the first months of sub-200,000 job gains since December 2020.

Average hourly earnings rose 14 cents to $33.74, keeping the yearly increase at 4.4%. Although pay increases have slowed from more than 5% last year, they’re still too high for a Federal Reserve seeking to push them down to 3.5% or lower to align with its 2% overall inflation target.

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Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer news from USA TODAY. We break down financial news and provide the TLDR version: how decisions by the Federal Reserve, government and companies im