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economy shed jobs in July in a way that caught forecasters off guard. Nonfarm payrolls, the monthly count of net paid positions added or removed across most industries, declined when economists had expected growth.
The unemployment rate fell too, and the two numbers pointed in opposite directions, giving investors a jobs report that resisted a single interpretation.
What the payroll count measures and why July's result mattered Nonfarm payrolls track net employment changes across most of the private and public sector each month, excluding farm work, private household employment, and the self-employed.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the figure as the centerpiece of the monthly jobs report, and it carries more weight than almost any other economic release because employers' decisions to hire or cut tell you directly whether the economy is expanding or contracting.
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