ISTANBUL

The US economy added 73,000 jobs in July, well below market expectations, according to data from the Labor Department released on Friday.

The market expectation for nonfarm payrolls last month was set to show a gain of 106,000.

Job additions for June, meanwhile, were revised down by 133,000, from 147,000 to 14,000.

"Employment continued to trend up in health care and social assistance. Federal government continued to lose jobs," the department said.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate inched up to 4.2% in July from 4.1% in June, matching forecasts.

The number of unemployed people was little changed at 7.2 million in July, while the labor force participation rate was at 62.2%.

Meanwhile, the employment-to-population ratio was stable at 59.6% in July, according to the Labor Department.

The number of people not in the labor force but currently wanting a job in July was little changed at 6.2 million.

"These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job," it said.

The average hourly earnings for all employees on non-farm payrolls rose 0.3% to $36.44 in July compared to June while it was up by 3.9% on an annual basis.

'American people are paying the price'

Following the release of jobs data, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed President Donald Trump over his administration's economic policies.

"Today, we learned the economy added only 73,000 jobs last month, far below expectations. But that wasn't the worst of it. We also learned the economy actually added less than 20,000 jobs each in May and June, the two months following Donald Trump's Liberation Day," Schumer told the Senate floor.

"It is disturbing to say, but the chickens are coming home to roost on Donald Trump's destructive trade war, and the American people are paying the price," he added.

Trump's "chaotic tariffs are already bleeding" the US economy of good paying jobs, Schumer stressed.

Turning to recent trade deals that the Trump administration signed with several countries, Schumer made a call for "transparency."

Schumer said he and several other senators wrote to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to "immediately come clean with answers" to several questions on the trade deals.

"First of all, how are any of these deals going to be actually verified and enforced? How do we know these investments Donald Trump has bragged about are going to take place?

"Second, what system or mechanism exists to track any of this information? What industries will see the benefit? What kind of investments are we talking about? ... Finally, especially crucially, how do we know that these investments, even if they happen, are going to benefit the public and not just benefit the businesses and industries owned by Donald Trump and his friends?" he asked.

* Diyar Guldogan from Washington, DC contributed to this report