Layoffs of temporary U.S. Census workers continued to drive the employment picture nationwide as total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 131,000 jobs in July.

That leaves the nation’s unemployment rate unchanged at 9.5 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Minnesota’s unemployment numbers for July are due out Aug. 19. The state jobless rate stood at 6.8 percent for June.

Pre-market jitters sent stock futures down as the numbers were worse than expected on Wall Street.

Federal government employment fell, as 143,000 temporary workers hired for the decennial census completed their work while private-sector payroll employment edged up by 71,000.

The number of unemployed persons, at 14.6 million, remained the same in July, although the number of discouraged workers no longer looking for work reached 1.2 million, up 389,000 from a year earlier. In addition, about 2.6 million were considered marginally attached to the labor force in July, an increase of 340,000 from a year earlier. Neither of these categories is counted in the unemployment rate.

The number of those working part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was essentially unchanged over the month at 8.5 million but has declined by 623,000 since April.

Beyond those categories, the employment rate remained essential unchanged in terms of major worker groups: adult men (9.7 percent), adult women (7.9 percent), teenagers (26.1 percent), whites (8.6 percent), blacks (15.6 percent), and Hispanics (12.1 percent).

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 6.6 million, making up 44.9 percent of the unemployed.

Manufacturing employment increased by 36,000 jobs, and the health care sector added 27,000 jobs in July. Over the past 12 months, health care employment has risen by 231,000. In July, employment in transportation and warehousing edged up by 12,000. Since a recent low in February, transportation and warehousing has added 56,000 jobs.

Employment in financial activities continued to trend down in July, with a decline of 17,000. So far this year, monthly job losses in the industry have averaged 12,000, compared with an average monthly job loss of 29,000 for all of 2009.