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 Nonfarm payrolls increased 142,000 last month, the smallest increase
in eight months, the Labor Department said on Friday. The
unemployment rate fell one-tenth of a percentage point to 6.1
percent as people dropped out of the labor force.
June and July data were revised to show 28,000 fewer jobs created
than previously reported, lending the weaker tone. In addition,
manufacturing saw no job growth and retail payrolls declined for the
first time since February.
Economists had expected payrolls to increase 225,000 in August and
the unemployment rate to fall to 6.1 percent.
The surprise slowdown in job growth is at odds with labor market
indicators such as first-time applications for unemployment
benefits, which are hovering near their pre-recession levels.
In addition, manufacturing and service sector surveys showed strong
employment growth in August and household perceptions of the labor
market brightened significantly, which economists said were
consistent with tightening conditions.
Some economists had cautioned that August's employment report could
miss expectations because of seasonal factors. An upward revision to
August data is most likely.
August's employment report supports the Fed's cautious approach to
monetary policy.
Fed Chairman Janet Yellen is concerned about sluggish wage growth,
the still-elevated numbers of Americans working part-time even
though they want full-time employment, and Americans still suffering
from a long spell of joblessness.
The U.S. central bank has pointed to these metrics as evidence of
"significant underutilization" of labor market resources that merits
a stimulative monetary policy.
The labor force participation rate, or the share of working-age
Americans who are employed or at least looking for a job, fell to
62.8 percent in August from 62.9 percent in July.
However, a broad measure of joblessness that includes people who
want to work but have given up searching and those working part-time
because they cannot find full-time employment fell to 12.0 percent,
the lowest level since October 2009, from 12.2 percent in July. The
number of long-term unemployed Americans was the lowest since
January 2009.
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Average hourly earnings rose 6 cents in August. They were up 2.1
percent from a year ago.
The jobs data comes ahead of a Fed policy meeting on Sept. 16-17.
The central bank has kept benchmark lending rates near zero since
December 2008 and financial markets do not foresee an increase until
around the middle of next year.
The job gains in August were spread broadly across the economy. The
private sector accounted for the bulk of the increase in payrolls,
advancing 134,000 after rising 213,000 in July.
Government employment increased 8,000 as state governments hired
teachers at the start of the new school year.
Manufacturing added no jobs in August. That followed July's hefty
28,000 jobs, which reflected a decision by automakers to keep
assembly lines running in the summer. Auto payrolls fell 4,600.
Construction employment advanced 20,000, rising for an eighth
straight month.
The length of the average workweek held steady at 34.5 hours for a
sixth month in a row.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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