The economy lost 23,000 payroll jobs in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, as businesses contended with the ongoing energy supply shock from the war with Iran.

Forecasters had expected payroll job growth to be 88,000, adjusted for seasonal variations, so the report was a major miss and a bad sign for the health of the economy. The gains from the previous two months’ reports were also revised down, pointing to an overall slowdown in hiring.

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