The U.S. added more jobs than expected in August, a sign of resilience for a labor market under pressure from Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.
Nonfarm payrolls grew by a seasonally adjusted 187,000 for the month, above the estimate for 170,000, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
However, the unemployment rate was 3.8%, up significantly from July and the highest since February 2022. That increase came as the labor force participation rate increased to 62.8%, the highest since February 2020, just before the Covid pandemic declaration.
Average hourly earnings increased 0.2% for the month and 4.3% from a year ago. Both were below respective forecasts of 0.3% and 4.4%.
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Healthcare showed the biggest gain by sector, adding 71,000. Other leaders were leisure and hospitality (40,000), social assistance (26,000) and construction (22,000).
Transportation and warehousing lost 34,000 and information declined by 15,000.
While the nonfarm payrolls growth continued to defy expectations, previous months’ counts were revised considerably lower.
The July estimate moved down by 30,000 to 157,000. June was revised lower by 80,000 to 105,000, making that the smallest month gain since December 2020.
The unexpected increase in the jobless rate came as the rolls of the unemployed grew by 514,000. The household count of those employed increased by 222,000.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
