Overview
- The Labor Department reported on Friday that nonfarm payrolls rose by 162,000 in August and the unemployment rate held at 4.1 percent.
- June and July figures were revised up by a combined about 55,000 jobs, turning July’s initially reported loss into a modest gain.
- Job gains were concentrated in leisure and hospitality, local government education, construction and manufacturing while the information sector lost jobs, and average hourly earnings rose 0.3 percent for the month and 3.1 percent year over year.
- Policy and demographic shifts have tightened labor supply, including the end of Temporary Protected Status for roughly 330,000 Haitians and Syrians and continuing baby‑boomer retirements, which lower the monthly hiring needed to keep unemployment steady.
- The BLS outturn contrasts with ADP’s smaller private‑payrolls estimate of about 38,000 and makes next week’s August CPI reading and the Sept. 15–16 Fed meeting the decisive tests for whether officials move on rates.