U.S. August Employment Surges with 162,000 New Jobs, Shattering Expert Predictions
POLICY WIRE — Washington, USA — American businesses significantly ramped up hiring in August, adding 162,000 positions to the economy. The figure represents a dramatic increase over July’s pace...
POLICY WIRE — Washington, USA — American businesses significantly ramped up hiring in August, adding 162,000 positions to the economy.
The figure represents a dramatic increase over July’s pace and far exceeded the 65,000 jobs predicted by economists surveyed by FactSet.
Despite the hiring surge, the national unemployment rate remained flat, holding at 4.1% for the second consecutive month.
Growth was primarily driven by the local government education sector and food services and bars, which added 42,000 and 59,000 jobs, respectively.
According to Labor Department data, August’s payroll growth was more than five times the 31,000 monthly average recorded over the past year.
Tim Urbanowicz, chief investment strategist at Innovator ETFs for Goldman Sachs Asset Management, noted via email that the report was strong and might trigger an immediate, reactive response from markets.
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“But once the dust settles, we think investors will realize the broader trend of labor market rebalancing is still intact,” Urbanowicz stated.
The Labor Department also adjusted previous data upward, revealing that hiring had been more robust than initially reported.
Revised figures now show that 21,000 jobs were created in July and 11,000 were added in June.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
