USA Economy
Jobs / Employment

Economy adds 156K jobs in August

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Economy adds 156K jobs in August © Getty Images

The economy added 156,000 jobs in August, below economists’ expectations, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday.

The unemployment rate ticked up a tenth of a point, to 4.4 percent, while the labor force participation rate stayed steady at 62.9 percent.

Manufacturing added 36,000 jobs last month, while construction employment rose by 28,000. Roughly 20,000 jobs were added in healthcare.

August’s numbers fall slightly short of previous months, and came in below economists’ predictions that the economy would add roughly 180,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, employment gains for June and July were both revised down. July added 189,000 jobs, as opposed to the 209,000 originally reported, while June saw gains of 210,000, instead of 231,000.

“The labor market is, if anything, a tad weaker than than we thought a month ago,” economy professor and New York Times columnist Justin Wolfers wrote on Twitter. “A tad. A tiny little tad. Really, it’s about the same.” —Updated at 9:13 a.m.