U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly rises to 4.3% in July

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: the unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 4.3% in July, and the number of unemployed rose by 352,000 to 7.2 million. These figures are higher than a year ago, when the unemployment rate was 3.5% and the number of unemployed was 5.9 million. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult males (4.0 percent) and whites (3.8 percent) increased in July. Unemployment rates for adult females (3.8 percent), teenagers (12.4 percent), blacks (6.3 percent), Asians (3.7 percent), and Hispanics (5.3 percent) were virtually unchanged. Among the unemployed, the number of temporary layoffs increased by 249,000 to 1.1 million in July. The number of permanently unemployed was little changed at 1.7 million.