July’s Job Creation Less Than Expected, But Still Steady

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In July, employment gains were widespread across sectors. The industries with the highest gains were professional and business services, manufacturing, retail trade and construction. Here are some key sector highlights from the BLS “The Employment Situation – July 2014” report:

Professional and Business Services

The industry that showed the highest job growth in July was professional and business services, adding 47,000 jobs to the economy, making the year-over-year total 648,000 jobs. Subsectors such as architectural and engineering services added 8,800 jobs (1.42 million total workforce), administrative and support services created 14,900 jobs (8.37 million total workforce) and temporary help services generated 8,500 jobs (2.88 million total workforce). In total, 19.23 million Americans were employed within this sector last month.

Retail

Employment in the retail sector showed a surge in July by adding 26,700 jobs to the economy. Total employed in this sector has reached 15.39 million and in the last 12 months employment has grown by 298,000. Within the industry, food and beverage stores added 7,600 jobs (3 million total workforce), clothing and accessories stores grew by 6,900 jobs (1.41 million total workforce), and general merchandise stores added 6,500 jobs (3.1 million total workforce).

Healthcare

The healthcare industry added 25,400 jobs during July. The ambulatory services subsector led the way with 21,300 jobs (6.69 million total workforce), social assistance generated 18,400 jobs (3.35 million total workforce) and physicians’ offices grew 7,500 jobs (2.49 million total workforce).

Manufacturing

Manufacturing added 28,000 jobs in July, bringing the total number of employed in this sector to 12 million. For the subsectors, motor vehicles and parts contributed 14,600 new positions (879,000 total workforce), and furniture-related manufacturing generated 3,200 jobs (370,000). Manufacturing jobs have increased by an average of 12,000 a month throughout the last year.

Construction

The construction sector picked up from last month, with 22,000 new jobs added (6 million total workforce) following a noticeable decline in June. Within the sector, heavy and civil engineering increased by 2,500 jobs (918,500 total workforce). Nonresidential specialty trade contractors also saw an increase of 7,000 jobs (2.14 million total workforce) after a decline in June. Residential building grew by 6,100 jobs (667,200 total workforce), and residential specialty trade grew by 6,900 (1.62 million total workforce).

Temporary Help Services

The temporary help services sub-sector is still on the rise, reporting its 18th consecutive month of job creation in July – with an increase in employment of 8,500. This brings the yearly growth up to 216,700. Since June 2013, this sector has kept an average of 2.77 million people employed. The continued upward trend is a result of businesses taking advantage of temporary staffing solutions for their seasonal workforce needs.

At Adecco, we have clients in nearly every industry who have staff augmentation plans in place.