What really made the latest jobs report concerning, however, was the downward revision of previous months’ gains, which the BLS described as “larger than normal.” The number of jobs added in May was revised downward from 144,000 to 19,000, while the number of jobs added in June was revised downward from 147,000 to 14,000. Taken together, this means that the economy has added an average of just 35,000 jobs per month over the last three months.

New York Times chief economics correspondent Ben Casselman described the downward revisions as “a very significant sign of weakening” and he noted that healthcare and social assistance jobs accounted for nearly all of last month’s gains.

“If it hadn’t been for that sector, employment would have fallen slightly,” he observed on Bluesky.