by Calculated Risk on 8/05/2011 08:30:00 AM

From MarketWatch: U.S. economy gained 117,000 jobs in July

The U.S. economy added 117,000 jobs in July and an even larger 154,000 in the private sector while the unemployment rate fell to 9.1% from 9.2%, partly because 193,000 people dropped out of the labor force, according to the latest government data. Job gains in May and June were also revised up by a combined 56,000, the Labor Department reported Friday. Average hourly wages rose 10 cents, or 0.4%, to $23.13. The workweek was unchanged at 34.3 hours.

Click on graph for larger image in graph gallery.

This graph shows the unemployment rate.

The unemployment rate decreased to 9.1%.

Note: The BLS website crashed - I'll add the Participation rate and Employment to population ratio soon.

This graph shows the job losses from the start of the employment recession, in percentage terms aligned at the start of the recession. The dotted line is ex-Census hiring.

The current employment recession is by far the worst recession since WWII in percentage terms, and 2nd worst in terms of the unemployment rate (only the early '80s recession with a peak of 10.8 percent was worse).

This was still weak, but better than expectations for payroll jobs, and the unemployment rate. The 154,000 private sector jobs - and 56,000 in upward revisions to May and June are improvements. I'll have much more soon ...