
The U.S. economy gained 130,000 new jobs in August, short of economists’ forecast of 150,000. This increase includes the temporary employment of 25,000 workers hired by the federal government in preparation for the 2020 census.
Businesses added just 96,000 jobs during the month, the fewest since May. Despite some growth slowdown, the unemployment rate remained at a healthy 3.7% for the third month in a row, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Wages are also rising slowly for employees on private non-farm payrolls. Average hourly earnings have gained 3.2% year-over-year and are about 0.4% higher than July.
Overall, August’s jobs report indicates a minor slowdown from recent months and from 2018. On average, the U.S. economy saw the addition of 200,000 jobs per month last year. This year, job gains are hovering in the range of 100,000 per month.
The slowdown can partly be attributed to increased tariffs chipping away at business spending and business confidence. Factory jobs, an industry that has felt the greatest impact from the U.S.-China trade war, added just 3,000 jobs during the month of August. Economists on average expected the addition of 8,000 jobs.
The retail industry even saw a net decline of 11,100 workers during the period as companies brace for another round of tariffs. Trade, transportation and utilities also lost 11,000 jobs, while mining and logging lost 5,000 positions.
The biggest gains for the month of August came from professional and business services at 37,000. Healthcare contributed 24,000 to the economy’s total net gain, while financial services added 15,000.
Related Articles
Conduent Collaborates with Amazon Web Services to Help Government Improve COVID-19
Conduent Incorporated (NASDAQ: CNDT) announced Thursday that its disease surveillance and outbreak management platform, Maven®, is now available on Amazon Web Services (AWS). According to the Company, the Maven solution was recently configured to...
U.S. Gold Corp. Updated Economics of the Copper King Deposit
U.S. Gold Corp. (NASDAQ: USAU) stock jumped more than 120% Tuesday after the gold exploration company announced that it has internally updated the economics of the Copper King deposit to reflect the recent rise in gold prices. Mine Development...
Boeing to Suspend Production at its Puget Sound Facilities Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) is one of the companies that suffered most losses from the COVID-19 pandemic. The stock of the Company fell to about $105 a share (as of Monday) from highs of $315 a share just one month ago. On Friday, the Company...