Jobs data live updates: Tech sector responsible for nearly a third of job-cut plans, Challenger data shows

Friday's jobs report will shed light on the state of the labor market, with the federal government's payroll figures for July expected to show an improvement from the month prior. In all likelihood, the labor market's "low-hire, low-fire" narrative dragged on last month. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict the jobless rate stayed flat at 4.2%, a hair below its July 2025 level, and expect the economy to add 80,000 jobs. That would be better than June's 57,000 new roles, which badly missed expectations, but would still mark a slowdown from the growth reported earlier this year. While data released Wednesday by ADP showed private employers added fewer positions than expected in July, annual pay gains for job-switchers were strong — though not so much so that economists are worried about that adding to inflation. "The slowdown in the monthly employment gain reported by ADP aligns with our assumption that the labor market isn't in a period of overheating," Matthew Martin, senior US economist at Oxford Economics, said Wednesday. "Nor is it a cause for concern, as the number is still within range of our estimate of the breakeven pace of monthly employment growth consistent with stable unemployment." As for earlier this summer, job openings in June roughly matched economists' expectations, with some 7.4 million positions available, data released Tuesday showed. Challenger, Gray & Christmas also reported Thursday that hiring plans improved in July, while layoff announcements fell. View Comments