U.S. economy unexpectedly loses 23,000 jobs in July

NPR | By Scott Horsley,

A Martínez

Published August 7, 2026 at 4:41 AM EDT

The Labor Department offered an update Friday morning on the U.S. jobs market. After lackluster hiring in June, forecasters had expected the report to show a modest pickup in July.

Scott Horsley

Scott Horsley is NPR's Chief Economics Correspondent.

See stories by Scott Horsley

A Martínez

A Martínez is one of the hosts of Morning Edition and Up First.

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