U.S. businesses added 207,000 jobs in July, significantly higher than the 180,000 projected by economists. A strong performance by service-sector businesses drove the increase, while the unemployment rate stayed unchanged at 5 percent, as expected. Manufacturers shed 4,000 jobs in July, the fifth straight month that the sector has lost employment. Construction, by contrast, added 7,000 jobs, keeping up a blistering growth pace.
See "U.S. Employers Added 207,000 in July, Better Than Expected", Vikas Bajaj, The New York Times, August 4, 2005