Hiring cooled off in July, pushing the nation’s unemployment rate up to 4.6 percent, a six-month high, the Associated Press reported.

A report released by the U.S. Labor Department this morning also showed that new job creation slowed. Employers increased payrolls by 92,000 last month, the fewest add-ons in a single month since February.

Job losses in construction, manufacturing, retailing and government blunted gains in education and health care, professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality.

The new employment picture was weaker than economists expected. They were forecasting employers to add around 135,000 jobs in July and for the jobliess rate to hold steady at 4.5 percent. The new figures suggest the jobs climate wasn’t as robust as first thought at the start of the third quarter.

Even with the increase from June’s 4.5 percent unemployment rate, the current rate is still low by historical standards.