The US added just 157,00 jobs to the economy last month, its slowest pace of hiring in four months, undershooting analyst expectations of 193,000.
The unemployment rate edged down 0.1 per cent to 3.9 per cent in July, while the average hourly earnings increased 2.7 per cent, or 71 cents, in line with expectations.
Manufacturing and retail jobs continue to dominate, with firms in those sectors hiring almost twice as many people as this time last year.
Kully Samra, vice president at Charles Schwab, said: “Job growth significantly missed market expectations, but the wider numbers still paint a robust picture of the domestic labour market. Wage growth is steady month on month and unemployment remains near its 18 year low.”
“The labour market remains fairly tight but risks to the economy remain. Trade isnt the only cause for concern—investors are also eyeing the rising value of the dollar, slowing global economic growth and the possibility that the Federal Reserve could raise short-term interest rates too much and choke off domestic economic growth.
"However, US companies have strong balance sheets and tax reform has made it attractive to repatriate even more of their cash from foreign countries. That money can fuel business investment, expansion and stock buybacks."
Employers had added an average of 224,000 new workers in the first six months of this year, a faster pace than in 2017.
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