Construction employment, spending drop overall but private nonres remains strong

Seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment fell for the seventh straight month in July by 51,000, bringing the 12-month change to -67,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday [Aug. 1]. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percentfrom 5.5 percentin June and 4.7 percentin July 2007. Construction employment fell to 7,175,000, down 22,000 from June and 457,000 (5.8 percent) from July 2007, according to a Data DIGest report Aug. 4.

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