Hiring Picks Up the Pace Despite Lingering COVID Concerns

Even with parts of the country being hit hard by a wave of the Delta variant of COVID-19, the outlook for the jobs market appears to be on an upward swing.

In July, nonfarm payrolls skyrocketed, increasing by more than 940,000 as the unemployment rate dipped to just under 5.5%, according to a recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Those number eclipsed predictions sourced from economists by Dow Jones, which estimated closer to 845,000 new jobs and an unemployment rate of 5.7%.

The bigger picture is an even stronger one, as the rise in jobs and fall of unemployment coincided with an uptick in the labor force participation rate of 61.7%. That’s good enough to tie the metric’s highest level since March of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began in earnest.

Digging into specific industries, leisure and hospitality were the clear winners in job creation. They led the pack with 380,000 new positions during the month of July. More than 250,000 of those were created in bars and restaurants as diners continue to flock to entertainment hotspots despite lingering COVID concerns.

Time will tell if this employment spike will stick around even in the face of the Delta variant, which has already caused a meteoric rise in hospitalizations in some regions, particularly among the unvaccinated.

For more on the state of American labor in the coming months, keep it locked to B2B in the News and marketscale.com, the Homepage of B2B.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

training
Empowering Teams Through a Modern Training Culture
November 13, 2025

Training may be the backbone of any skilled trade, but in waterproofing—where mistakes can compromise entire structures—it becomes a defining competitive advantage. At Southwest Construction Services, the evolution of training reflects a larger industry shift: seasoned crews now rely less on formal classroom sessions and more on hyper-focused, on-site guidance tailored to the…

Read More
quality assurance
Ensuring Excellence: How Quality Assurance Shapes Every Successful Project
November 13, 2025

In an era of rising climate volatility and tighter construction tolerances, waterproofing has quietly become one of the most consequential guardians of a building’s long-term health. Too often, the industry treats it as an afterthought—something buried behind walls, beneath slabs, or under layers of finish—but the truth is that its success or failure can…

Read More
safety
Safety, Pride & Zero Defects: The New Standard in Construction Excellence
November 13, 2025

In an era when construction headlines often center on delays, overruns, and litigation, the companies that quietly build with integrity are shaping the industry’s future in far more meaningful ways. The most enduring structures aren’t defined merely by their materials but by the standards and culture behind them—standards that treat quality not as…

Read More
Startup
Turning Corporate Discipline into Startup Momentum: The New Blueprint for Modern Marketing Leadership
November 12, 2025

As the business landscape grows faster and more unpredictable, marketing leaders who can balance the discipline of big-company strategy with the scrappiness of startups are redefining what modern leadership looks like. Brian Fravel’s journey from global tech giant Intel to high-growth SaaS and cybersecurity companies highlights how adaptability, curiosity, and hands-on execution drive success across…

Read More