As summer begins to make way for fall, the job market is changing. Learn more about employment expectations based on data from our latest employment summary. Staff Solve strives to assist employers and job seekers not only with job market information and in the hiring process but also with the overall economic picture of employment trends in the United States and the possible factors involved.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 114,000  in July, and the unemployment rate rose a bit to 4.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in government, health care, social assistance, and construction.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent and the number of unemployed people increased by 352,000 to 7.2 million. These measures are higher than a year earlier, when the jobless rate was 3.5 percent, and the number of unemployed people was 5.9 million.

In July, the labor force participation rate at 62.7 percent, and the employment-population ratio, at 60.0 percent, changed little this month. The employment-population ratio, however, is down by .4 percent over the year. The number of persons employed part-time for economic reasons rose by 356,000 to 4.6 million in July. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part-time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.

The number of persons in the labor force who currently want a job increased by 366,000 to 5.6 million in July. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job. Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of persons marginally attached to the labor force changed little at 1.6 million in July. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, also changed little at 405,000 in July.

Employment continued to trend up in construction in July (+25,000), in line with the average monthly gain over the prior 12 months (+19,000). Employment in specialty trade contractors continued its upward trend in July (+19,000).

In July, employment continued to trend up in transportation and warehousing (+14,000), with job gains in couriers and messengers (+11,000) and warehousing and storage (+11,000). These gains were partially offset by a job loss in transit and ground passenger transportation (-11,000). Transportation and warehousing has added 119,000 jobs since a recent low in January of this year.

Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade; financial activities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and other services.

In July, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by .2 percent to $35.07. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.6 percent. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 9 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $30.14. The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to 34.2 hours in July. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to 33.7 hours.

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for May was revised down by 2,000, from +218,000 to +216,000, and the change for June was revised down by 27,000, from +206,000 to +179,000. With these revisions, employment in May and June combined is 29,000 lower 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.)