The US added another 209,000 new jobs in July, the sixth straight month of 200,000 plus jobs growth, as the unemployment rate inched up to 6.2%.

The figure was slightly weaker than expected but still marks the first time since 1997 that the US has added more than 200,000 jobs a month for six months in a row. The US has now added an average of 209,000 new jobs a month over the last 12 months. July’s figures were boosted by professional and business services, manufacturing, retail trade and construction.



The Bureau of Labor Statistics also increased its total nonfarm payroll employment figures for May and June. May was revised up from 224,000 to 229,000 and June from 288,000 to 298,000 – a total of 15,000 more jobs than previously reported.



The report was slightly below the consensus of economists forecasts. They had been expecting the unemployment rate to hold steady at 6.1% and 230,000 new jobs.

The report follows an upbeat report from the Commerce Department this week which showed a health rebound in US gross domestic product – the broadest measure of the economy – after a winter which caused the recovery to officially go into reverse.



US GDP grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.0% in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said Wednesday, bouncing back from a 2.1% contraction during the first three months of the year that economists had blamed in part on a historically frigid winter.

Paul Dales, senior US economist at Capital Economics, said: “The figures are slightly worse than expected but I think the bigger point is that they are still pretty good given the weakness of this recovery.”

He said the sixth month average in job gains was now at an eight year high. “There is some evidence now that the recovery is picking up pace,” he said.

Once again the jobs report highlighted serious problems in the labour market that have been left over from the recession. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 3.2 million in July.



The labour force participation rate, which measures the percentage of the population in the workforce, remained close to a 30-year low at 62.9% and has been essentially unchanged since April. The rate indicates many people have given up looking for work.



The number of people defined as “employed part time for economic reasons” stayed at 7.5 million. These number includes people working part-time because their hours had been cut back or they have been unable to find a full-time job.



Unemployment for minorities and young people remain high. The unemployment rate for African Americans increased marginally to 11.4% in July. Teen unemployment stayed flat but at a startling 20%.



In a blog post Jason Furman, chairman of the White House council of economic advisers, wrote: “Looking at a range of indicators of unemployment, it is clear that we are far into the economic recovery—and that progress has been broadly shared –but we are not all the way there yet. The official unemployment rate is 80% of the way back to its pre-recession level, after rising from a 2001-07 average of 5.3% to a peak of 10.0%. In July, it was 6.2%. A range of other indicators also show that we have made progress but more work remains.”