WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy added a meek 22,000 jobs in August, falling short of the 75,000 figure projected by Dow Jones economists, according to CNBC. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the report showed a marked slowdown from the July increase of 79,000, which was revised up by 6,000. Revisions also showed a net loss of 13,000 jobs in June, after the former estimate was lowered by 27,000. June is now the first month of recorded negative job growth since December 2020.
Both the unemployment rate, which sits at 4.3 percent, and the number of unemployed people, which sits at 7.4 million, demonstrated a slight increase per August’s report.
August’s payroll count was the first since President Donald Trump fired former BLS Commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, following the release of the July jobs report.
Although total nonfarm payroll employment has shown little change since April, a job gain in healthcare was partially offset by losses in federal government, as well as mining, quarrying and oil-and-gas extraction.
Federal government employment declined in August by 15,000 jobs and is down by 97,000 since reaching a peak in January. Additionally, employment in mining, quarrying and oil-and-gas extraction fell by 6,000, after changing little over the past 12 months
While the leading employment growth this month was healthcare, which added 31,000 jobs, it was still below the average monthly gain of 42,000 jobs over the previous 12 months. Employment in the social assistance sectors also continued to increase (+16,000), reflecting the continued job expansion in individual and family services (+16,000).
Meanwhile, wholesale trade and manufacturing both saw declines of 12,000 for the month.
There was little change in employment over the month in other industries, including construction, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, professional and business services and leisure and hospitality.
The report comes as markets expect the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) to lower interest rates at its next meeting, which will be held Sept. 16 and 17.