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August Unemployment Falls To 8.4%, Better Than Expected; Payrolls +1.4M

US DATA
MNI (Washington)
  • U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 1.371 million in August, coming in just above expectations for a 1.35 million gain, but slowing from July's 1.7 million, according to figures released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • The unemployment shot down to 8.4% from 10.2% in July when markets had expected a decline to 9.8%. A misclassification error meant the actual rate of unemployment could be as much as 0.7 pp higher than reported, the BLS said.
  • Labor participation rose 0.3pp to 61.7%, still 1.7pp below February's level
  • Employment in government rose 344,000, accounting for a quarter of the overall gain; hiring for the 2020 Census was 238,000 of that.
  • Total private payrolls were up 1.1 million in August after rising 1.48 million in July, falling short of expectations for a 1.28 million increase. That was driven by retail (+248,900) and professional and business services (+197,000). Jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector, which has seen unprecedented growth following months of Covid-19 shutdowns, slowed markedly in August, rising by 174,000 after a 621,000 increase in July.
  • Average hourly earnings rose 0.4%, far above expectations for a flat reading in August. The length of the average workweek ticked up by one tenth to 34.6 hours.
MNI Washington Bureau | +1 202-371-2121 | brooke.migdon@marketnews.com
MNI Washington Bureau | +1 202-371-2121 | brooke.migdon@marketnews.com

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