Job growth unexpectedly slowed last month to a modest 173,000, but the unemployment rate fell to a post-Great Recession low and average wages posted their biggest gain since January, the Labor Department said.

Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rose in July for the second straight month, as businesses boosted investment in new equipment and software.

U.S. farm incomes will decline 36% this year to the lowest level in nine years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture projected, reflecting a continued slump in crop prices and recent weakness in the dairy and hog markets.

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