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As discussed in our preliminary report on the July data, nonfarm jobs posted a somewhat stronger result compared to the prior 4 months, with an increase of 84,800 in July and a near doubling of the June estimate to 37,300. Employment gains, however, essentially stalled with a gain of only 23,500, the third lowest monthly gain since the initial losses in the pandemic period and accounting for only 3% of the total employment gains so far this year.
With this release, California remained 73,800 jobs (-0.4%) below the pre-pandemic peak in February 2020, and 165,700 workers (-0.9%) below the prior employment peak. The US numbers, however, passed this recovery mark for nonfarm jobs, but remained 0.4% short in the employment numbers.
In contrast, 15 states continued to exceed the pre-pandemic job numbers, while 31 states were above this recovery point for employment. As those 15 states have moved from jobs recovery to jobs growth, the resulting total has counterbalanced the continuing shortfalls in states such as California and pushed the national economy past this recovery point.
Using the unadjusted numbers to show results by average wage level, the higher wage industries continued moving in positive territory. The medium wage industries showed a reversal due to the seasonal shifts for schools (Educational Services and Government). Seasonal factors were positive for the lower wage industries as their previous lagging recovery picked up in July.
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