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The share of adults who are working or looking for a job is lower than it's been in decades. Here's why.

New claims for unemployment benefits fell to 326,000 in the week ending July 27 — the lowest level for initial jobless claims in more than five years, according to the Labor Department. Employment data for the month of July is due to be released Friday.

Analysts said the numbers signaled continued recovery in the jobs market. The news — plus good news on some quarterly earning reports — sent the stock markets soaring in early trading.

The Labor Department announced Friday that the economy added 195,000 new jobs in June, exceeding expectations. Concerns remain over the fact that many of the jobs being added are for relatively low-paying seasonal work in leisure and hospitality, and the fact that the number of long-term unemployed remains stagnant.

There were 195,000 jobs added to payrolls last month, but the unemployment rate was 7.6 percent. That was unchanged from May.

There were fewer people applying for unemployment insurance last week. And in May, consumers spent more — particularly on cars.

The Labor Department on Friday reported a jobless rate of 7.6 percent as employers added 175,000 jobs and more people began to look for work last month. That's up from April's rate of 7.5 percent.

Income and wealth inequality is just about as American as baseball and apple pie. And although the economy has improved in the last few years, the unemployment rate for black Americans is about double that for whites.

There was more of a decline than economists expected, but the weekly pace hasn't really changed much since late 2011.

Colorado’s unemployment rate fell to 6.9 percent in April. That’s two tenths of one percentage point lower than March’s rate of 7.1 percent.Private sector…