Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 187,000 in August, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.8 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday.
Employment continued to trend up in health care, leisure and hospitality, social assistance and construction.
Employment in transportation and warehousing declined. This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures laborforce status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics.
The establishment survey mewqasures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry.
From June through August, the economy added 449,000 jobs, the lowest three-month total in three years.
In addition, the government revised down the gains for June and July by a combined 110,000.
Friday’s report from the Labor Department also showed that the unemployment rate rose from 3.5% to 3.8%, the highest level since February 2022 though still low by historical standards. But the rate rose for an encouraging reason: A sizable number of people – 736,000 – began looking for work last month, the most since January, and not all of them found jobs right away. Only people who are actively looking for a job are counted as unemployed.
Source: Kuwait News Agency