Employers in the United States added 117,000 jobs in the month of July, bringing the unemployment rate down to 9.1 percent from 9.2 last month. The Labor Department also adjusted its June numbers positively — turns out that there were 46,000 jobs added that month, not the originally estimated 18,000. Manufacturing showed hiring increases in July, while state and local governments shed jobs to the tune of 37,000 positions. The markets, recovering from a startlingly steep decline yesterday, experienced a bounce in futures trading before the opening bells this morning. The numbers were better than expected, a much needed piece of good news after consumer confidence was deeply shaken during the debt-ceiling fight in Congress and increasing talk of the potential for a double-dip recession. Still, according to the statistics, there are some 14 million Americans who are looking for work but can’t find a job.
