U.S. Job Growth Disappoints Analysts

By Jim Zarroli

Published August 6, 2004 at 12:00 AM EDT

American employers added only about 32,000 jobs to their payrolls in July, a much weaker result than predicted by most forecasters. Nevertheless, the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent -- the lowest level in nearly three years. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

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