The number of unemployed went up by 88 thousand from a year earlier to 3,531 thousand in July, and employment rose 507 thousand to 29,265 thousand. Meanwhile, the number of people detached from the labour force increased by 156 thousand to 27,883 thousand. The participation rate went up to 54 percent in July from 53.7 percent a year ago, and employment rate advanced to 48.2 percent from 48 percent.
The non-agricultural jobless rate edged down to 12.9 percent in July from 13 percent in the previous year. The non-farm sector added 755 thousand jobs, namely industry and services while the farm sector lost 247 thousand jobs and the number of construction workers also declined.
Youth unemployment rate, measuring job-seekers between 15 and 24 years old, dropped to 19.9 percent from 21.1 percent in the same month a year ago.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate rose to 11 percent in July from 10.9 percent in June.