Employers add 215K jobs nationwide

While employers added 215,000 jobs in July, the national unemployment rate stayed put.

The U.S. jobless rate was unchanged at 5.3 percent last month, according to a news release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Employment activity was led by retail trade, health care, professional and technical services, and financial activities.

In the retail trade sector, employers bumped payroll numbers by 36,000. The industry has risen by 322,000 the past year.

Health care employment rose by 28,000 positions in July, led by 16,000 jobs at hospitals, according to the release.

In professional and technical services, job numbers increased by 27,000, with significant gains in computer systems design and related services, which added 9,000, and architectural and engineering services, at 6,000.

The BLS reports employers in the financial activities sector boosted their figures by 17,000 jobs last month. The industry has seen an increase of 156,000 the past year, according to the release.

As of July 31, the number of unemployed in the country was roughly 8.3 million.