Here are three key takeaways from the disappointing July jobs report

Nonfarm payrolls in the U.S. unexpectedly declined in July, but so did the unemployment rate, leaving investors with mixed signals on how to process the latest jobs report.

Here are three key takeaways:

1. Misleading numbers: The payroll decline of 23,000 wasn’t quite as bad as it looked and the drop in the unemployment rate to 4.1% wasn’t nearly as good as it looked. The main reason for the red headline number was a loss of 53,000 government workers, a development economists say was largely owing to seasonal factors that could get revised away. Private payrolls actually rose by 30,000. At the same time, the unemployment rate fell due to yet another decline in workers employed or actively looking for a job.
2. The vanishing labor force: On that labor force theme, the participation rate edged down to 61.4%, now off 0.7 percentage point this year alone due to the exodus of nearly 1.4 million people. There’s a strong degree of immigration noise in that number, but it still changes the dynamics by which policymakers will evaluate the labor market. A 4.1% unemployment rate suddenly doesn’t seem as impressive with participation at its lowest in 50 years outside of the Covid era.
3. Whither the Fed? Markets reacted to the report by taking a September rate hike off the table. Not so fast: Central bank policymakers may take more signal from the lower unemployment rate as they could view it as an indicator of a relatively stable labor market. A common theme in post-report commentary from Wall Street on Friday was that Fed officials likely will set this report aside and quickly turn their focus to next Wednesday’s consumer price index inflation reading — while acknowledging that weak payrolls growth at least takes the urgency out of a September increase.

“This report is like a hall of mirrors, tricking investors with different signals about whether labor’s recovery is stalling.” — Kevin Gordon, head of macro research and strategy at the Schwab Center for Financial Research.

“We agree that the [July] jobs report was a bit dovish on net. But we are sticking with our call that the Fed will hike by 75 [basis points] this year, starting in [September]. The Fed is likely to remain more focused on inflation than labor. The [July] CPI report is a bigger event than today’s jobs numbers.” — Aditya Bhave, U.S. economist, Bank of America.

“Although the stock market is likely to welcome the dovish implications of the report, investors should be wary of the future growth potential of an economy where fewer people are working.” — Peter Graf, chief Investment officer at Amova Asset Management Americas.