The US added just 22,000 jobs in August, continuing its stubborn trend of “little change since April,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in its first monthly jobs release since President Donald Trump fired its commissioner.
Last month’s job gains were well below economists’ expectations of 75,000, CNBC reported. The August jobs report “likely keep[s] the Federal Reserve on track for a widely anticipated interest rate cut later this month,” the outlet noted.
The BLS also significantly revised its June jobs numbers from a gain of 14,000 to a loss of 13,000. It revised its July numbers upward from an increase of 73,000 to 79,000. On the whole, that makes June and July employment numbers “21,000 lower than previously reported,” the bureau noted.
Unemployment remained at 4.3%, also little changed from the previous month. The health care sector added jobs, but the federal government and the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector shed jobs.
Friday’s jobs report is the latest batch of data the folks at BLS released this week. The other numbers didn’t tell a much better story for the US economy, though a boost in worker productivity offered a bright spot.
The BLS earlier reported that job openings fell to just under 7.2 million in July from the roughly 7.4 million openings recorded in June. Layoffs increased by 12,000 from June, totaling just over 1.8 million. Job openings hit their lowest level since September 2024, and layoffs reached a 10-month peak, CFO Dive reported.
On Thursday, hte bureau also revised Q2 worker productivity upward to a 3.3% increase from the previous quarter. BLS previously estimated a 2.4% increase.
A new era for BLS? As CFO Brew previously reported, Trump’s decision to fire BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer in August set off alarm bells in some economic circles. Experts told us they worried Trump will turn the BLS, long an apolitical agency, into a partisan sounding board.
And soon, these numbers may not come out as regularly. Trump’s nominee for commissioner, EJ Antoni, has suggested the BLS should stop posting the jobs report on a monthly basis “until it is corrected.”
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