The July Jobs Report Should Worry You | Diving In episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 7, 2026 · 17 MIN

The July Jobs Report Should Worry You | Diving In

from Think Like An Economist

The July jobs report just dropped, and it's time to worry. Markets expected around 80,000 new jobs — instead, the economy lost 23,000, and revisions to the prior two months erased another 100,000 we thought we had. In this video, Justin Wolfers break down what's really going on beneath the headline: the drop in government jobs might be statistical noise, essentially all private-sector job growth is coming from healthcare and social assistance, and the falling unemployment rate is actually bad news once you look at labor force participation. Justin also digs into a wonkier puzzle — why the payroll and household surveys are telling two different stories about American employment — and compare the US to Canada, where job growth has been roughly four times faster despite a tariff war hitting them harder. Plus: what this all means for the Fed's next move, and why (despite what you may have heard) these numbers are not being faked. Subscribe — it's one hire we'll never have to revise down:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com Follow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfers

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 7, 2026

Embed this episode

Ready to play

The July Jobs Report Should Worry You | Diving In

0:00 17:11

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Think Like An Economist?

This episode is 17 minutes long.

When was this Think Like An Economist episode published?

This episode was published on August 7, 2026.

Can I download this Think Like An Economist episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!