July jobs report: Hiring picks up

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) (Excerpt) -- The job market strengthened in July, a welcome piece of good news that sharply contrasted other recent data pointing toward an economic slowdown.

Employers added 117,000 jobs last month, easily topping the 75,000 gain economists surveyed by CNNMoney had predicted. And the unemployment rate improved slightly to 9.1%.

Economists estimate the economy needs to add about 150,000 jobs a month just to keep pace with population growth.