The July jobs report released by Automatic Data Processing (ADP  ), and the recently released report by the Labor Department have little good news for the American economy, with the actual number of jobs added sharply missing projections. The resurgence of the coronavirus in the United States, along with a new string of shutdowns, are mostly to blame.

According to Labor Department, the U.S. economy added 1.9 million jobs in July, a far cry from the 4.8 million added in June, and barely a drop in the bucket compared to the 12.9 million deficit since pandemic shutdowns began. The unemployment rate declined to 10.2%, just above the Great Recession high of 10%. Unemployment fell across all demographics, but it was noted that black workers were still hit the hardest, with an unemployment rate of 14.6%.

ADP's jobs report, released before the Labor Department's, similarly indicated a general slowdown in job market recovery. According to ADP, private-sector employment added 167,000 jobs in July, falling extremely short of analyst predictions of 1.9 million. Small and Large-sized employers added 63,000 and 129,000 jobs, respectively, while medium-sized employers lost 25,000.

In terms of where jobs were added, new positions were skewed heavily towards part-time work. While the gain may seem favorable at a glance, adding lower-paying jobs isn't likely to bring much relief for out-of-work Americans.

"We added more jobs than most people expected, but the gains really were disproportionately part-time workers. To me that means even if workers are coming back it's to jobs that pay less, and families will be worse off." Says Kate Bahn of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth.

The silver lining to be found in the Labor Department's report is the number of permanent job losses, which plateaued at 2.9 million in July, staying more or less the same as it had in June. While it would be more preferable if the number declined, the lack of upward movement at least shows that, at the very least, layoffs seem to be slowing down.

The slowdown of job market recovery is, of course, attributed to the coronavirus pandemic. A combination of a lackluster response by the Federal Government, and a litany of other variables, such as the bizarre stigma against mask-wearing by a small fraction of Americans, and some states re-opening too early, all combined to cause a resurgence in cases in several states, causing some to shut down once again, and driving many consumers back to their homes for fear of being infected.