Report: US Economy Added 142K Jobs in August

Improve the News Foundation -

Facts

  • According to data released Friday by the US Dept. of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the American economy added 142K jobs in August, with the country's unemployment rate dropping to 4.2% from 4.3% in July.[1][2]
  • August's job additions were higher than the revised 89K added in July and below the forecasters' predictions of 160K. Hiring in August was below the average monthly gain of 202K over the prior 12 months.[3][4]
  • Average hourly wages increased by 14 cents or 0.4% to $35.21 and 3.8% year-over-year. Hours worked nudged higher to 34.3 from 34.2.[5][6][7]
  • Sectors that hired in August were healthcare (+44.1K), leisure and hospitality (+46K), and construction (+34K), while manufacturing shed 24K jobs, retail lost 11.1K jobs, and information dropped 7K jobs.[8]
  • The number of workers on temporary layoff fell by 190K to 872K after rising by 249K in July. The number of permanent job losers remained unchanged at 1.7M.[3][7]
  • With inflation falling to 2.9% in July, the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates when policymakers meet in mid-September to repel further economic slowing. In a Friday speech, Fed Gov. Christopher Waller said he is 'open-minded about the size and pace of cuts.'[9][10]

Sources: [1]Wsj, [2]FT, [3]BLS, [4]CBS, [5]Yahoo Finance, [6]The Times of India, [7]USA Today, [8]CNN, [9]BBC News and [10]Washington Post.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by The White House. Robust job growth is a strong sign that the US economy is recovering. Though wage growth is consistently outpacing price growth, the unemployment rate is falling, and inflation is moderating — as expected — Republicans will continue to mislead their voters before the November election. The US labor market remains defiant to pessimism, which shows that the economy is returning to a more sustainable pace of growth after the post-pandemic boom.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by New York Post and FOX News. These numbers paint a gloomy picture of the future. While the Biden administration is adamant that the US labor market is in good shape, this report — a piece of disinformation ahead of the November election — shows that it's indeed collapsing. Job growth isn't just slowing but deteriorating, and the economy is spiraling downwards. Americans are in debt and the stock market is jittery — in short, under Democrats, the US will likely experience a recession.

Predictions