Advance copies of this statement are made available to the press 

under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that 

the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. 

Statement of 

Erica L. Groshen 

Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Friday, August 2, 2013

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 162,000 in July, 

and the unemployment rate edged down to 7.4 percent. Over the 

prior 12-month period, job gains averaged 189,000 per month. In 

July, employment rose in retail trade, food services, financial 

activities, and wholesale trade. 

Retail trade employment grew by 47,000 over the month. Job 

gains were widespread in the industry. Food services and 

drinking places added 38,000 jobs in July and 381,000 over the 

year. Employment in financial activities increased by 15,000 in 

July, due in part to job gains in the securities industry. 

Wholesale trade continued to show steady job growth, with a gain 

of 14,000. Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, 

professional and business services employment continued to trend 

up (+36,000). 
2 

Health care employment was essentially unchanged over the 

month. Thus far in 2013, job growth in health care has averaged 

16,000 per month, compared with an average monthly increase of 

27,000 in 2012. Employment in other major industries also was 

little changed in July. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls edged down by 2 cents in July, following an increase of 

10 cents in June. Over the past 12 months, average hourly 

earnings have risen by 44 cents, or 1.9 percent. In comparison, 

the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose by 

1.8 percent from June 2012 to June 2013. 

Turning now to measures from the survey of households, the 

unemployment rate edged down to 7.4 percent in July. The jobless 

rate is down from 8.2 percent a year ago. There were 11.5 

million people unemployed in July, a decline of 1.2 million from 

a year earlier. 

The labor force participation rate, at 63.4 percent, was 

little changed in July and has shown little movement, on net, 

thus far this year. Since the end of the recent recession, labor 

force participation generally has been on a downward trend. 

In July, the employment-population ratio held at 58.7 

percent. This measure has been essentially flat since late 2009. 

Among the employed, there were 8.2 million involuntary part-time 
3 

workers in July, essentially unchanged over the month and over 

the year. 

Among people neither working nor looking for work in July, 

2.4 million were considered marginally attached to the labor 

force, little changed from a year earlier. The marginally 

attached are those who had not looked for work in the 4 weeks 

prior to survey, but they wanted and were available for work, 

and had looked for a job within the last 12 months. Of the 

marginally attached, 988,000 were classified as discouraged 

workers in July, up from 852,000 in July 2012. Discouraged 

workers are those who stopped searching for work because they 

believed no jobs were available for them. 

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 162,000 

in July, and the unemployment rate edged down to 7.4 percent.