The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that employers across the U.S. added 22,000 jobs in August, falling short of economists’ expectations for 80,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, up from 4.2% in July. The latest data points to an ongoing slowdown in the labor market, with employers hiring an average of 29,000 each month from June through August, versus 168,000 workers each month in 2024. Revised data also shows that employers shed 13,000 jobs in June rather than adding the 14,000 that had been reported a month earlier, marking the first decline since late 2020.
