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 7, 2015

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 215,000 in July, and the 

unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.3 percent. Employment 

increased in retail trade, health care, professional and 

technical services, and financial activities. 

Incorporating revisions for May and June, which increased 

nonfarm payroll employment by 14,000, monthly job gains have 

averaged 235,000 over the past 3 months. In the 12 months prior 

to July, employment growth averaged 246,000 per month. 

Retail trade employment rose by 36,000 in July, with motor 

vehicle and parts dealers contributing 13,000 of the increase. 

Over the year, retail trade has added 322,000 jobs. 

Health care employment increased by 28,000 over the month, 

and has grown by 436,000 over the year. Hospitals added 16,000 

jobs in July. 
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Employment in professional and technical services rose by 

27,000 over the month, as job growth continued in computer 

systems design and related services (+9,000) and in 

architectural and engineering services (+6,000). Employment 

gains in these two industries have accounted for nearly half of 

the 301,000 increase in professional and technical services 

employment over the past 12 months. 

Employment in financial activities increased by 17,000 in 

July. Within the industry, insurance carriers and related 

activities added 10,000 jobs. 

Manufacturing employment edged up by 15,000 over the month. 

Job gains occurred in several nondurable industries, including 

food manufacturing (+9,000) and plastics and rubber products 

(+6,000). 

In July, employment continued to trend up in food services 

and drinking places (+29,000) and in transportation and 

warehousing (+14,000). 

Mining employment continued on a downward trend in July 

(-5,000). Since its recent peak in December, mining has shed 

78,000 jobs. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls rose by 5 cents in July to $24.99. Over the past 12 

months, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.1 percent. From 

June 2014 to June 2015, the Consumer Price Index for all Urban 
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Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 0.2 percentage point (on a 

seasonally adjusted basis). 

Turning now to data from the survey of households, most 

major indicators showed little or no change over the month. The 

unemployment rate held at 5.3 percent in July, and the number of 

unemployed was unchanged at 8.3 million. Among the unemployed, 

26.9 percent, or 2.2 million, had been unemployed 27 weeks or 

more, little changed from the prior month. 

The labor force participation rate, at 62.6 percent, was 

unchanged in July, after declining by 0.3 percentage point in 

June. The employment-population ratio was also unchanged in 

July, at 59.3 percent, and has shown little movement thus far 

this year. 

Among those employed in July, 6.3 million were working part 

time for economic reasons. These individuals, also referred to 

as involuntary part-time workers, would have preferred full-time 

employment but were working part time because their hours had 

been cut back or because they were unable to find full-time 

work. The number of involuntary part-time workers changed little 

over the month, but has fallen by 1.1 million over the year. 

Among people who were neither working nor looking for work 

in July, 1.9 million were classified as marginally attached to 

the labor force, down from 2.2 million a year earlier. These 

individuals had not looked for work in the 4 weeks prior to the 
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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, was 668,000 in July, little 

different from a year earlier. 

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 215,000 in 

July, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.3 percent.