August jobs data fall short of expectations for the second consecutive month, with full-time positions plummeting.
The U.S. economy created fewer jobs than the market projected in August as the overheated labor market of the past few years continues to show signs of cooling off.
Last month, payrolls increased by 142,000, falling short of the consensus estimate of 160,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The unemployment rate eased to 4.2 percent, down from 4.3 percent in July. This was in line with economists’ expectations.
Average hourly wages surged at a higher-than-expected pace of 0.7 percent, up from a 0.1 percent drop in July—this was revised from the initial report of 0.2 percent growth. Average hourly earnings also climbed to a better-than-expected year-over-year rate of 3.8 percent, up from 3.6 percent.
The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 62.7 percent. Average weekly hours ticked up to 34.3 from 34.2.
Much of the job creation was concentrated in construction (34,000), health care (31,000), government (24,000), and social assistance (13,000).
The manufacturing sector lost 24,000 positions and has “shown little net change over the year,” the BLS said.
Revisions, which have played a significant role in the monthly employment data for the last two years, were sizable. The number of jobs created in June was adjusted lower from 179,000 to 118,000. The number of positions added in July was also changed from 114,000 to 89,000.
So far this year, the total number of downward job revisions equals 372,000.
The number of people working two or more jobs increased by 65,000 to 8.538 million.
In August, full-time jobs plummeted by more than 400,000, and part-time employment increased by 527,000.
After all of the revisions, the economy has created 1.333 million new jobs in the first eight months of 2024. Total employment has risen 1.5 percent over the past year, representing the slowest growth rate since March 2021.
By Andrew Moran
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