U.S. employers added 7.5 million jobs in May and June, following a devastating April in which millions filed for unemployment benefits. But July is the tricky month because the trend has failed to continue at the same pace making it look like the pandemic surge is now threatening the recovery momentum.   Even though the Department of Labor will release official data by the end of the week, Dow Jones estimates that 1.26 million jobs were added in July.

That might sound fantastic, but the resurgence of the virus added new volatility to the outlook and economists now fear new layoffs.

Last month, medical experts called for a restart of the COVID lockdown as the United States adds tens of thousands of new cases daily. Twenty-two states, including Washington, Michigan and California, have imposed new restrictions, resulting in fresh layoffs.

As for the previous two months, the healthcare, logistics and construction industries presented with the highest demand for new workers.

In June alone, employers added nearly 5 million jobs. Of those, the leisure and hospitality sector dominated with 2.1 million jobs, while retailers added 740,000 jobs, and education and health services opened up 568,000 jobs.

Compared to the five-decade-low 4.4% unemployment rate we saw in early March, the current rate of 11% looks great, with the number of unemployed persons falling by 3.2 million to 17.8 million, according to the US Department of Labor…CLICK for complete article