August 06, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Payroll employment in July

Total payroll employment continued to trend up in July 2007 (+92,000), reaching 138.1 million, seasonally adjusted.

Over-the-month change in payroll employment, January 2006-July 2007
[Chart data—TXT]

Thus far in 2007, employment has increased by an average of 136,000 per month, compared with an average monthly gain of 189,000 in 2006.

Over the month, employment rose in several service-providing industries and changed little in the goods-producing industries.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program, and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent two months are preliminary. More information can be found in "The Employment Situation: July 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-1157.