UPDATE 2 - US adds 114,000 jobs in July, much lower than estimates

UPDATES HEADLINE, ADDS PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN'S REMARKS

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The US economy added 114,000 jobs in July, significantly below market estimates, according to figures released Friday by the Labor Department.

The market expectation for nonfarm payrolls was a gain of 176,000 jobs last month.

Job additions for June were also revised down by 27,000, from 206,000 to 179,000.

The unemployment rate increased to 4.3% in July from 4.1% in June, against market expectations that it would remain unchanged.

The number of unemployed people decreased to 5.9 million in July from 6.8 million in June, while the labor force participation rate edged up to 62.7% from 62.6% during that period.

The employment-population ratio, meanwhile, slightly fell to 60.0% in July, from 60.1% the month before.

In July, the number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job increased by 366,000 to 5.6 million, the Labor Department said in a statement.

"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," it added.

Last month, most employment was seen in health care with a gain of 55,000. This was followed by construction with 25,000, and transportation and warehousing with 14,000.

In July, average hourly earnings for all employees on private non-farm payrolls increased by 0.2% to $35.07 per hour, compared to June.

That figure showed an annual increase of 3.6%, compared to the same month of 2023.

President Joe Biden said American economy has created nearly 16 million jobs since he and Vice President Kamala Harris have taken office in January 2021, adding average unemployment has been lower than any administration in 50 years.

"Today’s report shows employment is growing more gradually at a time when inflation has declined significantly," he said in a statement released by the White House.

"Business investment remains strong thanks in part to our investing in America agenda, which is creating good-paying jobs in communities that have been left behind," he added.

Biden noted that incomes have increased faster than prices, but added that prices are still too high.

"We will keep fighting to lower costs by taking on price gouging, capping prescription drug costs, and building more homes," he said.

"Congressional Republicans are siding with special interests at the expense of the middle class—with more tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations while threatening Social Security and Medicare," he added.​​​​​​​