U.S. Economy: Payrolls Increased More Than Forecast in July

American employers added more jobs than forecast in July and wages climbed, easing concern the world’s largest economy is grinding to a halt.

Payrolls rose by 117,000 workers after a 46,000 increase in June that was larger than earlier estimated, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey called for a gain of 85,000. The jobless rate dropped to 9.1 percent as discouraged workers left the labor force. Average hourly earnings climbed 0.4 percent.