EXPLAINER: 5 key takeaways from the July jobs report

Even in a July jobs report that was nearly universally hailed as a good one, pockets of weakness and concern are still clouding the celebration

NEW YORK -- Even in a July jobs report that was nearly universally hailed as a good one, pockets of weakness and concern are still clouding the celebration. The numbers in the report were certainly strong, with employers adding 943,000 more jobs to their payrolls than they cut, a better hiring performance than economists expected. The unemployment rate also dropped in another encouraging sign, down by half a percentage point from June to 5.4%. And many economists expect further improvements. The unemployment rate fell for many groups across the country, but not for all the right reasons. Among Black workers, for example, the decline may have been entirely due to people dropping out of the workforce, rather than from more people getting jobs. There's also growing concern that the broad strength found in July jobs report may prove fleeting. The faster-spreading delta variant of the coronavirus is causing people to mask up and feel more anxious again, threatening the improvements.