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Employment growth continued at a moderate pace in August, with non-farm employment increasing by only 130,000, largely due to the temporary hiring of labor force workers. census, announced Friday the Department of Labor.
The increase did not exceed Wall Street estimates at 150,000, while the unemployment rate remained at 3.7%, as expected. Another measure of the unemployment rate, which includes discouraged and underemployed workers, went from 7% in July to 7.2%, mainly because of an increase of 397,000 for part-time workers for reasons of economic.
Wage growth remained strong, with average hourly earnings increasing 0.4% for the month and 3.2% for the year; both figures were one tenth of a point better than expected.
Labor force participation also increased, reaching 63.2%, thus reaching its highest level since August 2013. The total number of Americans considered as employees jumped by 590,000, reaching a record of 157, 9 million, according to the household survey, which is conducted separately from the total number of establishments. .
With previous June and July reports also revised downwards, monthly employment growth in the United States slowed to 158,000 from 223,000 a month a year ago.
The decline is due to the fact that the US economy is slowing down and perhaps even heading into recession. While consumers remain strong, agriculture and manufacturing have declined as the United States enters into a long tariff battle with China.
On the labor front, August's trends have shown more sluggishness.
The largest gains for the month were in professional and business services (37,000) and the federal government, which added 28,000 workers ahead of the 2020 population figures. Health care contributed 24 000 people in total, while financial services grew by 15,000.
Despite strong retail indicators, the sector recorded a net decrease of 11,100 workers. Trade, transport and utilities also lost 11,000 jobs, and mining and logging lost 5,000 jobs.
Excluding government recruitment, the private workforce grew by 96,000, the lowest pace since February.
Revised past months lower
Revisions to the accounts for the previous months saw the month of June increase from 193,000 to 178,000, while that of July rose from 164,000 to 159,000. This brought the three-month average to 156,000.
Fears of recession have increased on Wall Street, although the economy has maintained a growth rate of about 2% after hovering around 3% a year ago. Bond markets slowed and the Federal Reserve approved its first rate cut in July since the Great Recession.
Markets are generally expecting the central bank to apply another quarter-point cut later this month. Fed officials have worried about the worsening global situation that is plaguing the United States, as well as the impact of the trade war and the continuing lack of inflation.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell was scheduled to speak in Zurich on Friday to discuss the economic situation.
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