WASHINGTON — The number of U.S. workers who have stopped looking for jobs because they believe none are available held essentially steady in July, according to Labor Department data released Friday, offering little change in a measure of labor-market disengagement.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the number of discouraged workers was 476,000 in July, down from 477,000 in June. Discouraged workers are a subset of people marginally attached to the labor force who want and are available for work but have not searched for a job in the previous four weeks because they believe no jobs are available for them.
The July figure was also below the 486,000 recorded in May, when the measure was essentially unchanged from April. The number stood at 430,000 in July 2025, according to the BLS.
The broader pool of people marginally attached to the labor force increased to 1.8 million in July from 1.76 million in June, the BLS reported. These workers had looked for a job at some point during the previous 12 months but had not searched during the four weeks before the survey.
At the same time, the number of people outside the labor force who said they currently wanted a job was little changed at 5.9 million. They are not counted as unemployed because they either had not actively searched for work during the preceding four weeks or were unavailable to take a job.
The figures came as the broader labor market showed limited movement in July. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.1% from 4.2% in June, while the number of unemployed people declined to 6.9 million. The labor force participation rate fell to 61.4% from 61.5%, and the number of people in the labor force declined by 264,000.
Nonfarm payroll employment also changed little, declining by 23,000 in July after an average monthly gain of 34,000 over the previous year. The BLS said employment fell in local government education and retail trade while continuing to rise in health care.
The BLS is scheduled to release its August employment report on Sept. 4. A preliminary benchmark revision to establishment-survey employment data is scheduled for Aug. 28, with the final benchmark revision due with the January 2027 employment report.
