The US Department of Labor reported Friday that the US market added 117,000 jobs in July, as private sector growth increased by 154,000, and government jobs fell by 37,000. Partly because some unemployed workers stopped looking for work, and are therefore no longer counted as unemployed, the total number of unemployed people in the US fell to 13.9 million, and the unemployment rate edged 0.1 percent lower to 9.1 percent after rising in both May and June.
US construction employment saw major gains in July, adding 8,000 jobs. The industry's unemployment rate dropped from 17.3 percent a year earlier and 15.6 percent in the previous month to 13.6 percent in July.
In Canada, Statistics Canada reported Friday that employment rose by 7,100 in July and the jobless rate dropped 0.2 percent to 7.2 percent from June to the lowest in 2008 due to a fewer people actively looking for work.