July Job Growth Report: U.S. Adds 528,000 New Jobs

Despite speculations of an impending recession, the job market continued to grow in July with the usual in-demand industries growing more rapidly than others.

With the U.S. unemployment rate continuing to drop, it’s worth noting the industries that are expanding the most and the demographics of people who are getting hired in these fields.

Is the U.S. job market increasing?

In a word — yes. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employment grew by 528,000 new jobs in July, outpacing June by 156,000.

As a result, the unemployment rate dropped slightly to 3.5%, down from 3.6% in June of 2022 — the lowest it’s been since February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unemployment rates by group:

• Adult women: 3.1%
• Adult men: 3.2%
• Teenagers: 11.5%
• Whites: 3.1%
• Blacks: 6.0%
• Asians: 2.6%
• Hispanics: 3.9%

Additional employment statistics for June 2022:

• 2.2 million people reported that they had been unable to work due to their employer closing or losing their business due to the pandemic.
• The number of people temporarily laid off has essentially leveled out to its pre-pandemic level at 791,000 in July.
• Among the unemployed, there were 1.2 million who lost their jobs permanently — 129,000 fewer than in February 2020.

U.S. industries with the highest job growth in July

Leisure and hospitality job growth

Still on the rise, leisure and hospitality account for jobs in subsectors like food services

and drinking places and added 96,000 jobs in July — 29,000 more than in June.

Although monkeypox is reported to be on the rise, restrictions remain lifted on services that fall within the leisure and hospitality category resulting in nightlife, food, and travel industries continuing to grow.

Professional and business services job growth

This industry has been on an upward trend and added 89,000 jobs in July.

Subsectors like computer systems design and related services, management and technical consulting services, and accounting and bookkeeping services all continue to grow as businesses adapt to the new normal of a post-pandemic world.

Health care job growth

Adding 70,000 jobs in July, health care and social assistance is an industry that has continued to grow throughout the pandemic.

Subsectors like hospitals, home health care services, and vision and dental services all reported job gains as the need for these services remains high.

Will there be a recession?

As of right now, there is no definite answer as to whether or not the U.S. will experience a recession in the near future.

However, many experts and economists are speculating that a recession could happen due to a few key factors:

• Rising interest rates have caused a domino effect that has changed the economic landscape, and along with a volatile stock market and several other employment industry trends, many are preparing for the worst.
• Inflation has been rising at a faster rate than wages, which means that people’s purchasing power is decreasing.
• The Great Resignation lead to a mass exodus of U.S. workers in search of greener pastures has put even more pressure on the already tight labor market.

If an economic downturn were to occur, it’s important to understand which job industries would be most and lest affected by a recession.

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