Total nonfarm payrolls fell by 131,000 to 130.2 million. However, the number reflects a decline in federal government employment as 143,000 temporary Census workers' jobs ended. Private-sector employment gained 71,000 jobs July.

The unemployment rate was 9.5% in July, unchanged from June.

"The modest gain in private sector jobs confirms that the economy remains on a slow growth path, and it's going to be a long haul to rev up the jobs machine," said Bart van Ark, chief economist at The Conference Board. "The current pace of employment is too slow to replace the more than 8 million jobs lost in the recession -- not in the next year or two, perhaps even not in the next five years."

U.S. temporary help payrolls totaled almost 2.09 million jobs in July with the decrease of 5,600, according to the BLS. The temporary employment penetration rate fell to 1.60% in July from 1.61% in June.

In July, the employment services category overall lost 23,300 jobs for total employment of 2.76 million. The employment services category includes employment placement agencies, temporary help services, executive search services and professional employer organizations.

Manufacturing gained 36,000 jobs in July for a total of 11.7 million.

Healthcare gained 26,600 jobs in July for total employment of almost 13.8 million.
Transportation and warehousing gained 12,200 jobs in July for a total of almost 4.2 million.