Economy Gains 315,000 Jobs in August; Unemployment Inches Up to 3.7%

The U.S. economy gained 315,000 jobs in August, and the unemployment rate edged up to 3.7%, according to figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Continuing strong job creation numbers are a clear sign that the worker-friendly policies implemented by President Biden are having a positive impact on working people.

In response to the August job numbers, AFL-CIO Chief Economist William Spriggs tweeted the following:

#JobsDay @BLS_gov reports unemployment rate edged up from 3.5 to 3.7%, though payrolls grew by 315,000 in August (the adjusted household survey was more robust with an increase of 599,000 jobs). Year over year pay was up 5.2% but much lower over the last three months @AFLCIO

— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) September 2, 2022

Black workers are the canary-in-the coal mine. Falling job openings in the JOLTS is showing in lowering Black labor force participation (slower hiring rates), and that has translated into rising unemployment and falling employment-to-population for Black men over three months. https://t.co/kukIG1MUOX

— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) September 2, 2022

This is a warning sign to the @federalreserve that the labor market is showing slack with Black workers, who are the first to show it. The Fed does not control the current source of inflation, nor does it control the pace at which the labor market deteriorates. pic.twitter.com/7SQGI2hqIm

— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) September 2, 2022

Last month’s biggest job gains were in professional and business services (+68,000), health care  (+48,000), retail trade (+44,000), leisure and hospitality (+31,000), manufacturing (+22,000), financial activities (+17,000), wholesale trade (+15,000) and mining (+6,000). Employment showed little change in other major industries, including construction, transportation and warehousing, information, other services and government.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for rose for Hispanics (4.5%) and adult men (3.5%) in August. The jobless rates for teenagers (10.4%), Black Americans (6.4%), adult women (3.3%), White Americans (3.2%) and Asian Americans (2.8%) showed little change over the month.

The number of long-term unemployed workers (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed in August and accounted for 18.8% of the total unemployed.