The Indicator from Planet Money · Friday, August 7, 2026
The latest government jobs report revealed that the US economy lost 23,000 jobs, exceeding economists' expectations and with prior months' figures revised downward. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, but this was attributed to a significant number of people stopping their job search, indicating a cooling job market.
“The overall economy lost 23,000 jobs, worse than economists were expecting. And the numbers for May and June were actually revised downwards by about 100,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked down slightly to 4.1%, but only because about 260,000 people stopped looking for a job. So the job market definitely seems to be cooling off.”