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Washington: The US employment market is showing weakness as companies grappled with President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, government data showed Friday, while two central bank officials warned on labor risks in the world's biggest economy.
US job growth missed expectations in July, the data showed, and revisions to hiring figures in recent months brought them to the weakest levels since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The employment data points to cracks in the key jobs market as companies took a cautious approach in hiring and investment and puts pressure on the central bank as it mulls the best time to cut interest rates.
The world's biggest economy added 73,000 jobs last month, while hiring numbers were revised significantly lower for May and June, the Labor Department said.
The jobless rate nudged up from 4.1 percent to 4.2 percent.
Experts have warned that private sector firms appear to be in a wait-and-see mode due to heightened uncertainty over Trump's rapidly changing trade policy.
With tariff levels climbing since the start of the year, both on imports from various countries and on sector-specific products such as steel, aluminum and autos, many firms have faced higher business costs.
Some are now passing them along partially to consumers.
On Friday, the Department of Labor said hiring numbers for May were revised down from 144,000 to 19,000. The figure for June was shifted from 147,000 to 14,000.
This was notably lower than job creation levels in recent years. During the pandemic, the economy lost jobs.
Average hourly learnings rose by 0.3 percent to $36.44 in July, the Labor Department said.
It added that employment continued rising in health care and in social assistance, while the federal government continued shedding jobs.
