Key Points:
- Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 235,000 in August as the unemployment rate fell 0.2% to 5.2%.
- Consensus among economists was a gain of 720,000 jobs.
- This is the seventh month of job gains after payrolls fell steeply in December.
- Nonfarm employment is down by 5.7 Million from pre-pandemic levels in February 2020.
- Employment in retail trade declined by 29,000 in August, and is down by 285,000 since February 2020.
- Manufacturing employment rose by 37,000, but is still down 378,000 from its level in February 2020.
- Employment in leisure and hospitality was unchanged in August.
- In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 17 cents to $30.73.
- The average workweek for all private employees was unchanged at 34.7 hours in August.
- The labor force participation rate was little changed again at 61.7% in August and is 1.6% lower than February 2020.