The U.S. economy added 215,000 jobs in July

This morning's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the U.S. economy created 215,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.3 percent. That was a bit below economists' expectations, as they'd anticipated a 225,000 jobs gain. The monthly average over the past year has been 244,583, which is enough to increase overall employment even when population growth is factored in.
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Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.
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