RELATED: Accounts still frozen after unemployment fraud found in Maryland; no arrests madeOn Friday, economists expect the government to report that employers added 1.6 million jobs in July, according to data provider FactSet, and that the unemployment rate declined from 11.1% to a still-high 10.5%.
At any other time, a million or more jobs would constitute an unheard-of increase. But July's expected gain would fall way short of June's 4.8 million increase and would signal that hiring has sharply slowed.
It would also mean that the economy has regained barely 40% of the jobs that fell to the coronavirus.The pandemic has lasted far longer than most Americans expected, with likely profound consequences for the economy.