Aug. 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. economy added 164,000 jobs for the month of July and the unemployment rate remained at 3.7 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The monthly report cited gains in professional and technical services, healthcare, social assistance and financial sectors, and was just shy of most analysts' expectations.
The financial sector added 11,000 jobs, many in the insurance industry. Social assistance grew by 20,000 and healthcare 30,000.
The mining sector lost 5,000 jobs and manufacturing employment remained steady, the report said.
Friday's report came two days after the first rate cut by the Federal Reserve in 11 years.
"I think the economy is in a very fragile place, and I think business sentiment is on a razor's edge," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said, citing new trade tensions between the United States and China.
ADP and Moody's Analytics had reported 156,000 new jobs for the month.