The July jobs report came in far worse than expected, a bad sign for workers even as stocks rallied.

• The US lost 23,000 jobs in July, when forecasters had expected a gain of about 80,000 — a huge swing to the downside.
• Earlier months were also revised down by 103,000, so the job market is even weaker than the raw numbers show.
• The unemployment rate ticked lower, but only because over 260,000 people gave up looking for work and dropped out entirely.
• Wage growth slowed to its weakest in five years and is being wiped out by higher inflation, so paychecks are losing ground.
• Stocks jumped anyway, because weak jobs make it less likely the Fed raises interest rates.

Outlook: Attention now turns to Wednesday's inflation report — a hot reading would put the Fed in a tough spot, torn between weak jobs and rising prices.