The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its highly anticipated Employment Situation Summary for August, with the data showing that the U.S. economy saw fewer job additions than expected while the unemployment rate saw a slight drop.
The report shows that nonfarm payroll employment in August increased by 142,000. This is up from 89,000 in July but below the 165,000 jobs expected by economists. The majority of the jobs were added in construction (34,000) and the healthcare sector (31,000).
On the other hand, the unemployment rate came at 4.2%, in line with expectations and below 4.3% from the month prior.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics also shared revised numbers for the past two months, which indicate that the labor market was even softer than initial numbers suggested. The revised numbers show that the total nonfarm payroll employment for June was 118,000, down from the initial 179,000, while 25,000 fewer jobs were added in July compared to the original figure of 114,000.
According to economists, adding fewer jobs in August isn’t as worrying as the revision numbers.
“I don’t like this a whole lot. It’s not a disaster, but it’s below expectations on the headline, and what really bothers me is the revisions. This is certainly going the wrong way,” Dan North, senior economist for North America at Allianz Trade, told CNBC.