The U.S. Labor market's slow-down in August meant job seekers had a slightly more difficult time finding work that month than in July as the nation remains below full employment.
Non-farm payroll jobs increased by 315,000 in August while the nation's unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistic's latest economic news release, published Sept. 2.
"Notable job gains occurred in professional and business services, health care and retail trade," the release said. "This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment survey measures non-farm employment, hours and earnings by industry."
Job gains also were noted in mining, along with leisure and hospitality, BTS reported.
The number of people laid off increased by 188,000 to 1.4 million in August and the number on temporary layoff and long-term unemployed was basically unchanged, according to the BLS report. The number of working-age people not employed and who want a job declined by 361,000, while the number of discouraged workers remained steady.
The number of people with jobs affected by the pandemic decreased, as reported by BLS.
Non-farm employment has increased by 5.8 million during the past 12 months as the labor market continues to recover from the pandemic-induced recession, though employment is higher than its pre-pandemic levels.
