ABJ - August 8 - Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 117,000 in July, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.1 per cent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Job gains occurred in health care, retail trade, manufacturing, and mining. Government employment continued to trend down.

The number of unemployed persons (13.9 million) and the unemployment rate (9.1 per cent) changed little in July. Since April, the unemployment rate has shown little definitive movement. The labor force, at 153.2 million, was little changed in July.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (nine per cent), adult women (7.9 per cent), teenagers (25 per cent), whites (8.1 per cent), blacks (15.9 per cent), and Hispanics (11.3 per cent) showed little or no change in July. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.7 per cent, not seasonally adjusted.

The number of persons unemployed for less than five weeks declined by 387,000 in July, mostly offsetting an increase in the prior month. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over), at 6.2 million, changed little over the month and accounted for 44.4 per cent of the unemployed.

The civilian labor force participation rate edged down in July to 63.9 per cent, and the employment-population ratio was little changed at 58.1 per cent.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was about unchanged in July at 8.4 million. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.