People walk through a shopping center in Manhattan in New York City on July 5, 2024.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Hiring in the US has slowed significantly over the past month, with the information and financial sectors recording job losses.
The information services sector was a notable weak spot in July, with job losses of 20,000. The professional and business services and financial activities saw a decrease in wages of 1,000 and 4,000 respectively.
“These sectors are known for creating jobs with higher wages and quality,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter. “The labor market is clearly no longer normalizing. A further deterioration could trigger a negative cycle of job losses, declining consumer spending, declining business revenues and even more job losses.”
Nonfarm payrolls rose by just 114,000 this month, well below the Dow Jones estimate of 185,000. The unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, the highest since October 2021.
Sure, there were some relative bright spots.
Healthcare once again led the way in job creation, adding 55,000 jobs to payrolls. Other notable winners included construction (25,000), government (17,000) and transportation and warehousing (14,000). Leisure and hospitality, another big winner in recent years, added 23,000.
“The latest snapshot of the labor market is consistent with a slowdown, not necessarily a recession. However, early warning signs point to further weakness,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial.