WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S employers added 943,000 jobs in July and drove the unemployment rate down to 5.4% in another sign the economy is bouncing back with surprising vigor from COVID-19. But there is growing fear the fast-spreading delta variant will set back the recovery.

The worry is that the resurgent virus could discourage people from going out and spending and trigger another round of shutdowns or other restrictions.

"That is a definite downside risk,'' said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. "The risk is from a more cautious consumer, if they don't want to...