The U.S. economy added 142,000 jobs during August and the national unemployment rate ticked slightly lower to 4.2%, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday.
Employment growth in August was slightly better than average job growth in recent months but was below the average monthly gain of 202,000 over the prior 12 months. In August, the most job gains occurred in construction (+34,000) and healthcare (+31,000).
Employment in manufacturing edged down in August (-24,000), reflecting a decline of 25,000 jobs in durable goods industries.
The unemployment rate for August was 0.1% lower than July’s rate of 4.3%. However, viewed on an annual basis, the 4.2% August jobless rate is still higher than it was in August 2023 when the U.S. unemployment rate was 3.8%.
The labor force participation rate, which measures the percentage of the population with jobs or actively seeking work, remained at 62.7% in August and has changed little over the year. The employment-population ratio also was unchanged in August, at 60.0%, but is down by 0.4 percentage point over the year.
The BLS on Friday also downwardly revised its preliminary nonfarm employment totals for July by 25,000 from 114,000 to 89,000. June’s numbers were also downwardly revised by 61,000 to 118,000. With these revisions, summer employment in June and July combined is 86,000 lower than previously reported.
In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 14 cents, or 0.4%, to $35.21. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.8%.
