U.S. Adds 22,000 Jobs In August, Far Fewer Than Expected

(RTTNews) - Employment in the U.S. rose by much less than expected in the month of August, the Labor Department revealed in a closely watched report released on Friday.

The report said non-farm payroll employment crept up by 22,000 jobs in August after climbing by an upwardly revised 79,000 jobs in July.

Economists had expected employment to increase by 75,000 jobs compared to the addition of 73,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The report also showed the uptick of 14,000 jobs that had been reported for June was downwardly revised to a decrease of 13,000 jobs.

The Labor Department said job growth in the healthcare and social assistance sector in August was partly offset by job losses in federal government and in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction.

"The labor market is coming to a standstill as businesses slow the pace of hiring and await clarity on tariffs and Fed policy," said Jeffrey Roach, Chief Economist for LPL Financial. "As the Fed prepares for its upcoming meeting, policy makers will likely focus on the weakness in the job market to defend their decision to cut rates."

He added, "The labor data is probably not weak enough for the Fed to cut by 50 basis points given inflation persistence, so as of now, our expectations are for a 25 basis point cut."

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate inched up by 4.3 percent in August from 4.2 in July, in line with economist estimates.

The modest increase by the unemployment rate came as the labor force grew by 436,000 persons, outpacing the 288,000-person increase by the household survey measure of employment.

The Labor Department also said average hourly employee earnings climbed by 10 cents or 0.3 percent to $36.53 in August.

Average hourly employee earnings in August were up by 3.7 percent compared to the same month a year ago, reflecting a slowdown from 3.9 percent in July.