it was job growth. it wasn't job less. the reasons the unemployment rate declined are mixed, partly because of people dropped out of the labor force, partly because people got jobs. i think the most positive way to read this report is if it is the delta variant that was really causing the slow down in hiring it looks like this wave may have peaked. this wave of the pandemic, i should say, it may have peaked. hospitalizations seem to be slowing down. maybe even declining in some places. deaths, a lagging indicator may say the same thing, and if that is the case, then maybe next month will be a little bit better. now, we still have a lot of head winds in this economy, not just the pandemic itself, per se, but also the fact that there are child care shortages, workers face other obstacles for getting back to work. health care workers are burnt out. part of the reason the numbers were bad, health care hiring went down. some may have to do with the fact that hospitals aren't doing as many elective surgeries.