07.08.202014:30:00UTC+00U.S. Employment Jumps More Than Expected In July

Employment in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of July, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The Labor Department said employment jumped by 1.8 million jobs in July after surging up by 4.8 million jobs in the previous month. Economists had expected employment to increase by 1.6 million jobs.

The bigger than expected spike in employment came amid a sharp increase in employment in the retail sector, which added 258,300 jobs

Notable job growth also occurred in the leisure and hospitality, government, professional and business services, other services, and health care sectors, the Labor Department said.

With the continued increase in employment, the unemployment rate dropped to 10.2 percent in July from 11.1 percent in June. The unemployment rate was expected to dip to 10.5 percent.