US Job Market Surges with 162,000 New Jobs Added in August
The US job market showed signs of improvement in August as employers added 162,000 jobs, well above the expected 53,000. The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1%, a level not seen since December 1999.
According to the Labor Department's closely watched employment report, the increase in nonfarm payrolls last month reflected a rebound in leisure and hospitality employment after two straight monthly declines. Employment also increased in local government education, offsetting some of the job losses in this sector earlier in the year.
The labor force participation rate edged up to 61.6% in August but is down by 0.5 percentage point since January. The number of long-term unemployed changed little at 1.9 million, accounting for 27.0% of all unemployed people.
This report may influence the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates next week, which could be a decisive factor in the central bank's upcoming rate hike decision.