The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its July
employment / unemployment report on August 7^th, 2026.

Employment / Unemployment 

• Seasonally Adjusted U-3 is 4.1% down from 4.2%
• Unadjusted U-3 is 4.4% Unchanged
• Unadjusted U-6 is 8.3% up from 8.2%
• Labor Force Participation is 61.4% down from 61.5%
• Unadjusted Employment fell from 159.748 million to 158.649 million
• Next Update: September 4th, 2026

Summary:

Despite the Adjusted U-3 Unemployment Rate being DOWN, this report is weaker than the headline unemployment rate suggests. Although the decline in unemployment looks encouraging at first glance, but actual employment (not the employment percentage rate) is down by -1. 18 million based on the original reported numbers or -1.099 million based on current numbers.

According to the Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

“Both total nonfarm payroll employment (-23,000) and the unemployment rate (4.1 percent) changed little in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment continued to trend up in health care. …

… In July, the number of people jobless less than 5 weeks edged down to 2.0 million and is down by 344,000 over the year. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) edged down over the month to 1.8 million but changed little over the year. The long-term unemployed accounted for 25.5 percent of all unemployed people in July.”

As usual, they are talking about “Seasonally Adjusted Jobs”.

Looking at the Unadjusted Establishment Survey report, we see…
The BLS is currently reporting employment of 158.649 million. Last month, the BLS reported employment of 159.830 million for June, which they have adjusted down to 159.748 million a decrease of -82,000. Original May numbers were 159.467 million, adjusted to 159.386 million, a decrease of –81,000. But based on the revised numbers, employment is still up by 382,000 since July 2025.

Current Unemployment Rate Chart

Current Employment Chart

See Current Employment  for more information.

BLS: July 2026 Employment by Sector

The BLS employment “bubble chart” based on the Establishment Survey Data gives us a good picture of the Seasonally Adjusted employment numbers.

The Bubble’s Size tells us the total Employment for that industry (i.e., larger bubbles mean more people are employed in that sector).

The bubble’s location on the chart tells us that there has been a change in Employment Levels over the most recent month… A bubble further to the right indicates larger job growth. A bubble’s vertical location on the chart shows the average industry salary.

Remember, these are Seasonally Adjusted Numbers, so they aren’t cumulative!

Looking at the above chart, we can see that 4 sectors lost employment in July: Leisure and Hospitality lost the most at -40,000 jobs, Retail lost -19,400 jobs, Financial lost -3,700 jobs, and Mining lost -2,000 jobs.

The biggest gainers were Education and Health at 25,000, Construction at 22,000, and Professional Services at 22,000.

BLS Average Weekly Wages

BLS Employment Levels by Industry

July 2026, Seasonally Adjusted Employment

Source: BLS

ADP^® National Employment Report

ADP provides an independent (non-government) estimate of private-sector employment and pay, based on data derived from ADP client payrolls. According to ADP®, In collaboration with Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

ADP: Private employers added 44,000 jobs in July

• Sector-level hiring was choppy last month, but pay sent a clear signal. Year-over-year pay for job-changers accelerated to its fastest pace of growth in nearly a year.

Source: ADP®

ADP Private Employment by Establishment Size

ADP Job Gainers / Losers

Most sectors showed gains, with three losers.

Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate Chart 1948-Present

Less Than Full Employment

This chart compares employment levels with the (inverted) unemployment rate.

Full Employment is when everyone who wants a job has one. It is generally considered to be around 3%. After the unemployment rate almost touched the magic full employment line in April 2023, it began moving away (i.e., higher unemployment).

Note: The Unemployment rate is inverted to track the employment rate. Neither is Seasonally Adjusted. For more information see Employment vs. Unemployment.

Note: Full employment is not considered to be at zero percent because even when employers are having difficulty finding employees, some people are still unemployed due to either:

1. Structural unemployment (mismatch between worker skills and job requirements, i.e., not enough training) or
2. Frictional unemployment. There will always be people who have quit or have lost a seasonal job and are in the process of getting a new job. Or simply because they quit their job, knowing it would be easy to find another (hopefully better) job.

Seasonally Adjusted U1 through U6 Unemployment Rates

Labor Force Participation Rate

The LFPR fell slightly from 61.5% in June to 61.4% in July. There has been a downward trend since the November 2023 peak. This may be partially explained by an aging population retiring.

Note: A rising LFPR means that a greater portion of the Non-Institutional population is in the Labor Force.

The Labor Force Participation Rate is the percentage of the Non-Institutional Population that makes up the Labor Force.

And the Employment – Population Ratio is the percentage of the Total Population that is Employed.  We created a chart to help explain the difference. The Employment–Population Ratio is the percentage of the largest circle to the smallest circle in this diagram. In contrast, the LFPR is the relationship of the 2nd largest circle to the 3rd largest circle (entire green circle).

Employment-Population Ratio

By Gender and Age

This chart shows the Employment-Population Ratio by Gender. Men make up a much larger portion of the workforce, i.e., 66.5% of men are employed, and only 55.6% of women are employed.

Employment-Population Ratio by Race

This chart shows the Employment-Population Ratio by Race (including both Men and Women). As we can see, Hispanics and Asians have the highest percentage of their population employed.

Percent Unemployed 27 weeks or Longer

A good sign this month as those unemployed long term dropped sharply.

Unemployment by Education

Read more on UnemploymentData.com.