US Job Market Sees Modest Growth in August, Unemployment Rate Edges Down

The US added 142,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in August, with the unemployment rate slightly decreasing to 4.2%. Job gains were seen in construction and health care sectors. Despite this, the monthly job growth was below the average of the past year.

In August, total nonfarm payroll employment in the US rose by 142,000, with the unemployment rate edging down to 4.2%, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

July's unemployment rate stood at 4.3%. The construction and health care sectors led the job gains, the data revealed.

While the employment growth was consistent with recent months' averages, it fell short of the previous 12 months' average monthly gain of 202,000, the bureau noted. The unemployment rate and the number of unemployed people, measured at 4.2% and 7.1 million respectively, remained relatively unchanged in August.

Compared to the previous year, both figures were higher. Last year, the unemployment rate was 3.8% with 6.3 million unemployed people. Among major worker groups, unemployment rates for adult men (4.0%), adult women (3.7%), teenagers (14.1%), Whites (3.8%), Blacks (6.1%), Asians (4.1%), and Hispanics (5.5%) showed negligible changes in August.

The number of temporary layoff individuals declined by 190,000 reaching 872,000, partially balancing the increase seen in the prior month. Permanent job losers remained steady at 1.7 million, while long-term unemployment figures stood at 1.5 million, representing 21.3% of all unemployed.

The labor force participation rate stayed at 62.7%, showing negligible change over the year. The number of individuals not in the labor force but desiring a job was 5.6 million, a little changed figure in August.

These individuals were not counted as unemployed as they did not actively seek work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable for work, the bureau stated.

(With inputs from agencies.)