U.S. Job Growth Misses Estimates In August But Unemployment Rate Dips

(RTTNews) - Employment in the U.S. rose by less than expected in the month of August, according to a closely watched report released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 142,000 jobs in August compared to economist estimates for an increase of 160,000 jobs.

The report also said the increases in employment in June in July were downwardly revised to 118,000 jobs and 89,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 86,000 jobs.

The weaker than expected job growth in August came as increases in employment in the healthcare and construction sectors were partly offset by decreases in employment in the manufacturing and retail sectors.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate edged down to 4.2 percent in August from 4.3 percent in July.

The modest decrease, which was in line with estimates, came after the unemployment rate reached its highest level since October 2021.

The dip by the unemployment rate came as the household survey measure of employment rose by 168,000 persons, outpacing the 120,000-person growth by the labor force.

"This is the moment we've all been waiting for and, based on the data, it looks like the Fed won't need to panic and start with a 'jumbo' rate cut," said Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer for Independent Advisor Alliance. He added, "Given the weaker-than-expected, but not falling-off-a-cliff numbers that we got this morning, it's unlikely that a 50 bps cut is necessary and the Fed will likely proceed at a measured pace of 25 bps cuts at each meeting for the rest of the year."

The report also said average hourly employee earnings increased by $0.14 or 0.4 percent to $35.21, while the annual rate of wage growth accelerated to 3.8 percent in August from 3.6 percent in July.