Fewer jobs were added to the U.S. economy in August than expected, while unemployment slightly decreased from July, according to the most recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday.
The data indicates that 142,000 jobs were added last month, about 20,000 less than the 161,000 economists had expected. Unemployment declined from 4.3% in July, the highest since October 2021, to 4.2% in August.
According to the report, the two largest sectors for growth last month were construction and healthcare, which added 34,000 and 31,000 jobs, respectively. The labor force participation rate is 62.7%, which is about the same as last year.
“The number of people employed part time for economic reasons was little changed at 4.8 million in August,” the report said. “This measure is up from 4.2 million a year earlier. These individuals would have preferred full-time…
