Bidenomics: unemployment rose to 4.3% in July, the highest rate since 2021

U.S. unemployment rose to 4.3% in July, the highest figure since October 2021. The data is worse than expected and increase by 0.2% from the result recorded a month earlier. This is a slam to the Biden-Harris Administration just three months before the elections and once again highlights the weakness of its economic policies, known as Bidenomics. This indicator is also of concern to the Federal Reserve at a time when it is still considering a possible rate cut in September.

Data significantly worse than in 2023

According to data released by the Labor Department, last month barely 114,000 jobs were created, compared to 179,000 the previous month. Moreover, the latter figure had been revised downward from the 206,000 new jobs announced in June. In a statement, the agency noted that "employment continued to increase in the health care, construction, transportation and warehousing sectors, while information lost jobs."

The Labor Department noted that "the number of people out of work increased by 352,000 to 7.2 million." This is much higher than the same month last year, when the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent and the number of unemployed was 5.9 million.

Black and Hispanic workers, the hardest hit by unemployment

Among the major groups of workers, the unemployment rates for adult men (4 percent) and whites (3.8 percent) increased in July. The unemployment rates for adult women (3.8 percent), teenagers (12.4 percent), blacks (6.3 percent), Asians (3.7 percent) and Hispanics (5.3 percent) were little changed over the month.

Among the unemployed, the number of people on temporary layoff increased by 249,000 to 1.1 million in July. The number of permanently unemployed was little changed at 1.7 million.