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Manufacturing employment in the U.S. was little changed in July, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data out today.

What’s going on: There were a seasonally adjusted 12,953,000 people employed in the manufacturing sector last month, compared to 12,952,000 in June.

• Employment in durable goods manufacturing was flat from June to July, coming in at 8,129,000 both months.
• Employment in nondurable goods inched up slightly in the same period, to 4,824,000 from 4,823,000.

The gains: Notable increases in manufacturing employment occurred in paper (up a seasonally adjusted 2,400 from June to July), nonmetallic mineral products (up 2,000), food (up 1,900), transportation equipment (up 1,400) and primary metals (up 1,300).

The overall economy: Overall, U.S. nonfarm payrolls added only 114,000 jobs on net from June to July, representing a slowdown in the labor market.

• The unemployment rate spiked to 4.3%, the highest number in almost three years.

A bit of positive news: “The jump in the unemployment rate was from more people looking for jobs, rather than people losing their jobs,” notes the Wall Street Journal (subscription).

• “The labor-force participation rate … rose to 62.7% from 62.6% in June. Absent the increase in participation, the unemployment rate would have stayed at 4.1%.”