The U.S. unemployment rate edged down to 10.2% in July even as a wave of new coronavirus cases forced most states to pause or reverse their reopenings, causing a slight pullback in hiring.
The Labor Department said in its Friday report that employers added 1.8 million jobs in July — a far slower pace than the 4.8 million created in June, which was the highest recorded. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expected the report to show that unemployment dropped to 10.5% and the economy added 1.6 million jobs.