Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until                  	USDL-17-1070
8:30 a.m. (EDT) Friday, August 4, 2017

Technical information:
 Household data:     (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/cps
 Establishment data  (202) 691-6555  *  cesinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/ces

Media contact:       (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                          THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- JULY 2017


Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 209,000 in July, and the unemployment rate 
was little changed at 4.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. 
Employment increased in food services and drinking places, professional and business 
services, and health care.

Household Survey Data

Both the unemployment rate, at 4.3 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, at 7.0 
million, changed little in July. After declining earlier in the year, the unemployment 
rate has shown little movement in recent months. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.0 percent), adult 
women (4.0 percent), teenagers (13.2 percent), Whites (3.8 percent), Blacks (7.4 percent), 
Asians (3.8 percent), and Hispanics (5.1 percent) showed little or no change in July. 
(See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Among the unemployed, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or 
more) was little changed at 1.8 million in July and accounted for 25.9 percent of the 
unemployed. (See table A-12.)

The labor force participation rate, at 62.9 percent, changed little in July and has shown 
little movement on net over the past year. The employment-population ratio (60.2 percent) 
was also little changed in July but is up by 0.4 percentage point over the year. 
(See table A-1.)

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as 
involuntary part-time workers), at 5.3 million, was essentially unchanged in July. These 
individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because 
their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. 
(See table A-8.)

In July, 1.6 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down by 321,000 
from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in 
the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in 
the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for 
work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 536,000 discouraged workers in July, essentially 
unchanged over the year. Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work 
because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.1 million persons 
marginally attached to the labor force in July had not searched for work for reasons such 
as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-16.)

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 209,000 in July. Job gains occurred in food 
services and drinking places, professional and business services, and health care. 
Employment growth has averaged 184,000 per month thus far this year, in line with the 
average monthly gain in 2016 (+187,000). (See table B-1.)

Employment in food services and drinking places rose by 53,000 in July. The industry has 
added 313,000 jobs over the year.

Professional and business services added 49,000 jobs in July, in line with its average 
monthly job gain over the prior 12 months. 

In July, health care employment increased by 39,000, with job gains occurring in ambulatory 
health care services (+30,000) and hospitals (+7,000). Health care has added 327,000 jobs 
over the past year. 

Employment in mining was essentially unchanged in July (+1,000). From a recent low in 
October 2016 through June, the industry had added an average of 7,000 jobs per month. 

Employment in other major industries, including construction, manufacturing, wholesale 
trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, 
and government, showed little change over the month. 

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.5 
hours in July. In manufacturing, the workweek was also unchanged at 40.9 hours, and 
overtime remained at 3.3 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory 
employees on private nonfarm payrolls was 33.7 hours for the fourth consecutive month. 
(See tables B-2 and B-7.)

In July, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 9 
cents to $26.36. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 65 cents, or 2.5 
percent. In July, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory 
employees increased by 6 cents to $22.10. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for May was revised down from +152,000 to 
+145,000, and the change for June was revised up from +222,000 to +231,000. With these 
revisions, employment gains in May and June combined were 2,000 more than previously 
reported. Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and 
government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of 
seasonal factors. Over the past 3 months, job gains have averaged 195,000 per month. 

_____________
The Employment Situation for August is scheduled to be released on Friday, 
September 1, 2017, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).



   ________________________________________________________________________________________
  |                                                                                        |
  |     2017 CES Preliminary Benchmark Revision will be released on September 6, 2017      |
  |                                                                                        |
  | Each year, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey estimates are benchmarked    |
  | to comprehensive counts of employment from the Quarterly Census of Employment and      |
  | Wages (QCEW) for the month of March. These counts are derived from state unemployment  |
  | insurance (UI) tax records that nearly all employers are required to file. On          |
  | September 6, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will      |
  | release the preliminary estimate of the upcoming annual benchmark revision to the      |
  | establishment survey employment series. This is the same day the first-quarter 2017    |
  | data from the QCEW will be issued. Preliminary benchmark revisions for all major       |
  | industry sectors, as well as total nonfarm and total private levels, will be available |
  | on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesprelbmk.htm.                           |
  |                                                                                        |
  | The final benchmark revision will be issued with the publication of the January 2018   |
  | Employment Situation news release in February 2018.                                    |
  |________________________________________________________________________________________|