Economy adds 209,000 jobs in July

July was a month of exceeded expectations in job creation, which moved the needle by pushing the U.S. unemployment rate down even further.

The economy added 209,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate is now down to 4.3%.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 1.8 million in July, and the labor force participation rate has also shown little movement over the last year (now at 62.9%).

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons was essentially unchanged at 5.3 million.

Additionally, 1.6 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down by 321,000 over the last year. And there were 536,000 discouraged workers, a number that's been essentially unchanged over the year.

Of the job gains that occurred last month, the majority occurred in food services and drinking places (53,000), professional and business services (49,000), and health care (39,000).

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.)

Additionally, 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. This means job gains were 2,000 more than previously reported in May and June.

Building material and garden supply stores added 5,000 jobs last month, and residential building added 5,100. Residential specialty trade contractors added 2,100.