NEW YORK (NewsNation) — U.S. employers added 22,000 jobs in August, and numbers in June and July were revised down by a further 21,000 openings.
Hiring decelerated from 79,000 in July, the Labor Department reported Friday. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%, worse than expected and the highest level since 2021.
Friday’s report is one of the last key points the Fed will review before deciding on a rate cut in two weeks. It’s also the first report since President Donald Trump fired labor statistics chief Erika McEntarfer, following a disappointing jobs report in July.
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Factories shed 12,000 jobs last month, the fourth straight month in which manufacturers have cut payrolls. Construction companies cut 7,000 jobs, and the federal government cut 15,000.
Labor Department revisions cut 21,000 jobs from June and July payrolls and revealed employers had actually cut 13,000 jobs in June, the first monthly job losses since December 2020.
Workers’ average hourly earnings rose 0.3% from July and 3.7% from August 2024, in line with forecasters’ expectations. The year-over-year figure neared the 3.5% that many economists see as consistent with the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target.
The U.S. job market has lost momentum this year, partly because of the lingering effects of 11 interest rate hikes by the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023, and partly because President Donald Trump’s policies, including his trade wars, have created uncertainty that leaves managers reluctant to make hiring decisions.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits — a proxy for layoffs — rose last week to the highest level since June, though the number of claims remained within a healthy range.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
