July Payrolls Grow by a Weaker-Than-Expected 32,000

mployers added only 32,000 workers to payrolls in July, the Labor Department said Friday, as it also revised lower the job gains for the two previous months.

Economists predicted payrolls would rise by 240,000 last month, Bloomberg reported. Through July, the United States has added 1.2 million jobs.

The unemployment rate fell to 5.5% from 5.6% in June as a separate survey of households showed robust employment growth. Labor cautioned this survey was a less reliable barometer of month-to-month changes in employment than its larger survey of businesses, Reuters reported.

Manufacturers gained 10,000 jobs last month, resuming growth after a revised decline of 1,000 in June. The manufacturing workweek rose to 40.9 hours from 40.8 in June and overtime rose held at 4.6 hours for a third month.

Employment in service-producing industries, including retailers and government agencies, rose 14,0000 last month, the fewest since August 2003, after a 76,000 gain in June.