Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until 
8:30 a.m. (ET) August 6, 2021.


                            Statement of

                          William W. Beach
                            Commissioner
                     Bureau of Labor Statistics

                        Friday, August 6, 2021


      Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 943,000 in July, 
and the unemployment rate fell by 0.5 percentage point to 5.4 
percent. Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, 
in local government education, and in professional and business 
services.
      
      Reflecting the initial impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) 
pandemic on the labor market, job losses totaled 22.4 million 
during the February-April 2020 recession (-1.7 million in March 
and -20.7 million in April). As economic activity resumed, job 
gains in May through November totaled 12.6 million. Employment 
declined again in December (-306,000), following a surge in the 
number of coronavirus cases. Job growth restarted in January of 
this year, and nonfarm payroll employment has increased by 4.3 
million over the past 7 months. However, employment is down by 
5.7 million, or 3.7 percent, from the pre-pandemic employment 
peak in February 2020.
      
      Strong job growth continued in leisure and hospitality, 
which added 380,000 jobs in July. Employment gains continued in 
food services and drinking places (+253,000); accommodation 
(+74,000); and arts, entertainment, and recreation (+53,000). 
Leisure and hospitality has added 2.1 million jobs since January 
and accounts for about half of all nonfarm jobs added thus far 
this year. However, employment in the industry is down by 1.7 
million, or 10.3 percent, since February 2020.
      
      Employment continued to increase in July in local 
government education (+221,000) and private education (+40,000). 
Pandemic-related staffing fluctuations in education have 
distorted the normal seasonal buildup and layoff patterns, 
likely contributing to the job gains in July. Without the 
earlier typical seasonal employment increases, fewer layoffs at 
the end of the school year can result in job gains after 
seasonal adjustment. These variations make it more challenging 
to discern current employment trends in education. Since 
February 2020, employment is down by 205,000 in local government 
education and by 207,000 in private education.
      
      Employment in professional and business services rose by 
60,000 in July. Within the industry, employment in the 
professional and technical services component rose by 43,000 
over the month and is 121,000 higher than in February 2020. 
(Professional and technical services includes industries such as 
accounting and bookkeeping services, management and technical 
consulting services, and scientific research and development 
services.) By contrast, employment in the administrative and 
waste services component (which includes temporary help 
services) changed little over the month (+20,000) and is 577,000 
lower than in February 2020. Employment in the management of 
companies and enterprises component was also little changed over 
the month (-3,000) but is 100,000 lower than the level in 
February 2020. Employment in professional and business services 
overall is down by 556,000 since February 2020.
      
      In July, transportation and warehousing added 50,000 jobs, 
with gains in transit and ground passenger transportation 
(+19,000), warehousing and storage (+11,000), couriers and 
messengers (+8,000), support activities for transportation 
(+6,000), and air transportation (+4,000). Overall, 
transportation and warehousing has added 534,000 jobs since 
April 2020; the industry has recovered 92.9 percent of the jobs 
lost during the February-April 2020 recession (-575,000).
      
      Employment in the other services industry increased by 
39,000 in July, with gains in membership associations and 
organizations (+17,000) and in personal and laundry services 
(+15,000). Employment in other services is down by 236,000 since 
February 2020.
      
      In July, health care employment rose by 37,000, following 
little change in the prior 3 months. In July, job gains occurred 
in ambulatory health care services (+32,000) and hospitals 
(+18,000), while nursing and residential care facilities 
continued to lose jobs (-13,000). Health care employment is 
502,000 below the February 2020 level.
      
      Manufacturing added 27,000 jobs in July, with machinery 
(+7,000) and miscellaneous durable goods (+6,000) contributing 
to the gain. Overall, manufacturing employment is 433,000 lower 
than in February 2020.
      
      Information employment grew by 24,000 in July, with three-
fourths of the increase occurring in motion picture and sound 
recording industries (+18,000). Employment in information is 
172,000 lower than in February 2020.
      
      In July, financial activities added 22,000 jobs. Most of 
the gain occurred in real estate and rental and leasing 
(+18,000). Since February 2020, employment in financial 
activities is down by 48,000. 
      
      Mining employment rose in July (+7,000), largely in support 
activities for mining (+6,000). Mining employment has risen by 
49,000 since a trough in August 2020 but is down by 103,000 
since a peak in January 2019.
      
      Employment in retail trade changed little in July (-6,000), 
following large increases in the prior 2 months. In July, job 
gains occurred in gasoline stations (+14,000), miscellaneous 
store retailers (+7,000), and nonstore retailers (+5,000), while 
building material and garden supply stores lost jobs (-34,000). 
Since February 2020, employment in retail trade is down by 
270,000.
      
      Employment in construction and wholesale trade showed 
little change over the month.
      
      In July, the average workweek for all private-sector 
workers remained unchanged at 34.8 hours. The average workweek 
for manufacturing increased by 0.2 hour to 40.5 hours.
      
      Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 
payrolls increased by 11 cents to $30.54 in July, following  
increases in the prior 3 months. The data for recent months 
suggest that rising demand for labor associated with the 
recovery from the pandemic may have put upward pressure on 
wages. However, because average hourly earnings vary widely 
across industries, the large employment fluctuations since 
February 2020 complicate the analysis of trends in average 
hourly earnings.
      
      Turning to the labor market indicators from the household 
survey, the unemployment rate fell by 0.5 percentage point to 
5.4 percent in July. The number of unemployed people declined by 
782,000 to 8.7 million. These measures have fallen from their 
April 2020 peaks but remain well above their February 2020 
levels (3.5 percent and 5.7 million, respectively).
      
      Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates 
decreased in July for adult men (5.4 percent), adult women (5.0 
percent), Whites (4.8 percent), Blacks (8.2 percent), and 
Hispanics (6.6 percent). The jobless rates for teenagers (9.6 
percent) and Asians (5.3 percent) showed little change.
      
      Among the unemployed, the number of people on temporary 
layoff fell by 572,000 in July to 1.2 million. This measure is 
down considerably from a high of 18.0 million in April 2020 but 
is 489,000 higher than in February 2020. The number of permanent 
job losers declined by 257,000 to 2.9 million in July but is 1.6 
million higher than in February 2020.
      
      The number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or more (often 
referred to as the long-term unemployed) decreased by 560,000 in 
July to 3.4 million. This measure is up by 2.3 million since 
February 2020. In July, the long-term unemployed accounted for 
39.3 percent of the unemployed. The number of people unemployed 
for less than 5 weeks increased by 276,000 to 2.3 million.
      
      The labor force participation rate, at 61.7 percent, was 
little changed in July and has remained within a narrow range of 
61.4 percent to 61.7 percent since June 2020. This measure is 
1.6 percentage points lower than in February 2020. The 
employment-population ratio rose by 0.4 percentage point to 58.4 
percent in July but is 2.7 percentage points lower than in 
February 2020.
      
      In July, 4.5 million people were working part time for 
economic reasons, little changed from the previous month. The 
number of people working part time for economic reasons is down 
from a peak of 10.9 million in April 2020. There were 4.4 
million people affected by this type of underemployment in 
February 2020.
      
      The number of people not in the labor force who currently 
want a job, at 6.5 million, changed little in July. This measure 
is down from a peak of 9.9 million in April 2020 but is 1.5 
million higher than in February 2020. Among those not in the 
labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally 
attached to the labor force, at 1.9 million, was also little 
changed in July. (People who are marginally attached to the 
labor force had not actively looked for work in the 4 weeks 
prior to the survey but wanted a job, were available for work, 
and had looked for a job within the last 12 months.) The number 
of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who 
believed that no jobs were available for them, declined by 
110,000 in July to 507,000.
      
      As in previous months, some workers affected by the 
pandemic who should have been classified as unemployed on 
temporary layoff in July were instead misclassified as employed 
but not at work. Since March 2020, BLS has published an estimate 
of what the unemployment rate would have been had misclassified 
workers been included among the unemployed. Repeating this same 
approach, the seasonally adjusted July unemployment rate would 
have been 0.3 percentage point higher than reported. Additional 
information about the misclassification, as well as information 
about response rates for both the household and establishment 
surveys, is available on the BLS website at 
www.bls.gov/covid19/employment-situation-covid19-faq-july-
2021.htm.
      
      Looking at supplemental pandemic-related measures from the 
household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally 
adjusted), the share of employed people who teleworked in July 
because of the coronavirus pandemic declined by 1.2 percentage 
points to 13.2 percent. These data refer only to employed people 
who teleworked or worked at home for pay at some point in the 
last 4 weeks specifically because of the pandemic; they do not 
include all instances of telework.
      
      In July, the number of people who reported that they had 
been unable to work because their employer closed or lost 
business due to the pandemic--that is, they did not work at all 
or worked fewer hours at some point in the last 4 weeks due to 
the pandemic--fell by 1.1 million to 5.2 million. Among those 
who reported in July that they were unable to work because of 
pandemic-related closures or lost business, 9.1 percent received 
at least some pay from their employer for the hours not worked, 
little changed from the prior month.
      
      Among those not in the labor force in July, 1.6 million 
people were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic, 
essentially unchanged from the prior month. (To be counted as 
unemployed, by definition, individuals must either be actively 
searching for work or on temporary layoff.)
      
      In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 943,000 
in July, and the unemployment rate fell to 5.4 percent.