The labor force participation rate ticked down to 62.1% from June's 62.2%, its third decline in as many months.

While labor demand remains incredibly strong, the supply of workers isn't bouncing back like it was at the beginning of this year, Bunker said.

"There are concerns that demand remains very strong, but workers' ability or willingness to take jobs is not as responsive to demand as some of us might have hoped," he told CNN Business.

That imbalance has contributed to elevated levels of wage growth, he added.

As of July, average hourly earnings rose by 0.5% from the prior month and were up 5.2% over the past year. Still, those gains are being outpaced by the highest inflation in 40 years.

Wage growth "is certainly not accelerating in a way that is driving the kind of inflation we're seeing in the economy," said Elise Gould, senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute.

Economists had expected the labor market to show some cooling as it not only got closer to recovering the more than 20 million jobs lost during the pandemic but also reflected a broader slowdown in economic activity.

"Despite the two straight quarters of contraction in GDP in the first half of the year, these robust job market numbers strongly argue against recession talk," Mark Hamrick, Bankrate's senior economic analyst, said in a statement.

The labor force participation rate ticked down to 62.1% from June's 62.2%, its third decline in as many months.

While labor demand remains incredibly strong, the supply of workers isn't bouncing back like it was at the beginning of this year, Bunker said.

"There are concerns that demand remains very strong, but workers' ability or willingness to take jobs is not as responsive to demand as some of us might have hoped," he told CNN Business.

That imbalance has contributed to elevated levels of wage growth, he added.

As of July, average hourly earnings rose by 0.5% from the prior month and were up 5.2% over the past year. Still, those gains are being outpaced by the highest inflation in 40 years.

Wage growth "is certainly not accelerating in a way that is driving the kind of inflation we're seeing in the economy," said Elise Gould, senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute.

Economists had expected the labor market to show some cooling as it not only got closer to recovering the more than 20 million jobs lost during the pandemic but also reflected a broader slowdown in economic activity.

"Despite the two straight quarters of contraction in GDP in the first half of the year, these robust job market numbers strongly argue against recession talk," Mark Hamrick, Bankrate's senior economic analyst, said in a statement.