New today: Unemployment dips to 3.9%

The American economy is continuing its longest monthly streak of positive job growth in history, with 3.9 million jobs added since President Donald J. Trump was elected.

Today marks just the eighth time since 1970 that unemployment has fallen below 4 percent—with three of those occasions occurring in 2018. This success is good news for everyone, but it’s crucial for communities that have struggled historically: The unemployment rate for Hispanics has reached another all-time low, and unemployment for individuals with less than a high school diploma fell to its lowest mark since the series began in 1992.

Just as important: Jobs are paying better. Significant wage gains had been a missing piece of the economic “recovery” since the Great Recession, CNBC reports, but that reality is changing under President Trump. “Compensation for workers rose to a nearly 10-year high in the second quarter,” Jeff Cox writes.

The longest job streak in American history keeps going strong.

CNBC: ‘Worker pay rate hits highest level since 2008’

In photos: Fallen American soldiers come home

Sixty-five years ago last week, an armistice brought the Korean War to its close. Many of our soldiers returned home, but more than 8,000 American troops were simply listed as “missing” and never came back.

The remains of 55 of those Service Members arrived on American soil in Hawaii this week. Vice President Mike Pence was there to honor them.

In Photos: 65 Years Later, Fallen American Soldiers of the Korean War Come Home

The facts on Russia and election security

The media talks a lot about Russian meddling and election security, but they don’t talk much about what President Trump is actually doing to confront it. Here are just a few of his Administration’s recent actions to protect the integrity of our elections:

• The President chaired National Security Council meetings on May 3 and July 27 to coordinate his whole-of-government approach to election security.

• In March 2018, the Administration imposed sanctions against 16 Russian entities and individuals for their roles in interference in the 2016 election.

• The Department of Homeland Security is working with all 50 states, local governments, and the private sector to bolster defense against cyber operations targeting voting.

• The Administration provided on-site cybersecurity support to states during the 2017 elections.

• The Justice Department and FBI continue to investigate and disrupt any threats to election systems, while alerting potential victims and targets.

How President Trump is strengthening the security of our elections

Not in the headlines? The Administration’s tough stand on Russia

Photo of the Day

Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks

National Security Adviser John Bolton with White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Director of the National Security Agency Paul Nakasone, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen | August 2, 2018