U.S. Jobs Report Below Expectations for August

The U.S. labor market has cooled significantly as employers added jobs at a slower pace amid uncertainty about the economy. U.S. employers added just 22,000 jobs in August, according to a survey of businesses by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those additions were down from the 79,000 jobs added in July and were well below economists’ expectations of roughly 75,000 jobs. The July figure was revised up by 6,000 jobs, while the June estimate was revised down by 27,000 jobs, going from a gain of 14,000 to a loss of 13,000. That was the first job loss since December 2020. With those revisions, employment in June and July combined came in 21,000 jobs below the previously reported figures. Only four of the 11 major industries added jobs in August, with the largest increase in the Education/Health Services sector (+46,000 jobs). That was followed by Leisure/Hospitality Services (+28,000 jobs) and Other Services (+12,000 jobs), while the Trade/Transportation/Utilities saw a small gain (+2,000 jobs). Notable job losses were seen in the Professional/Business Services (-17,000 jobs), Government (-16,000 jobs) and Manufacturing (-12,000 jobs) sectors. Other major industries to lose jobs during the month were Construction (-7,000 jobs), Mining/Logging (-6,000 jobs), Information (-5,000 jobs) and Financial Activities (-3,000 jobs). Meanwhile, the unemployment rate (U3 or headline unemployment rate, which is seasonally adjusted, and is a survey of households) registered at 4.3% in August. That was up from 4.2% in July and the highest reading in 46 months.  

This post is part of a series analyzing employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For more on this data, read previous posts on Job Growth.