US businesses are putting more and more people back to work. They hired new employees last month at a rate that beat market expectations.

Labor Department officials said on Friday that non-farm payrolls in July rose 528,000 compared to June. Workers returned to jobs in a broad array of sectors, from customer service and leisure to construction.

The unemployment rate fell from 3.6 percent in June to 3.5 percent in July. That is the lowest figure since before the pandemic, in February 2020.

Workers are also seeing higher paychecks. The average hourly wage rose by 5.2 percent compared to last July.
Workers are benefitting as companies compete for their services during the labor shortage.