The 'better-than-expected' July jobs report: 5 takeaways

Employment growth exceeded forecasts in July, with 117,000 new jobs added to the economy. But before you get too optimistic...

Commuters in Grand Central Station, New York: Job growth was better than expected in July and unemployment dropped slightly.
(Image credit: Alan Schein/Corbis)

With the Dow's sharp decline on Thursday, Europe's debt crisis, renewed fears of a double-dip recession, and mounting anxiety about the debt deal's spending cuts, investors worried that Friday's jobs report would only add to the pile of bad news. But it actually offered some "much better-than-expected" data, with the U.S. Labor Department reporting that the economy added 117,000 jobs in July — beating a forecast of 75,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate actually fell from 9.2 percent in June to 9.1 percent in July. Here, five other takeaways, not all cheery, from the new jobs report:

1. This was better than we expected — but not enough

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