WASHINGTON, D.C., United States: The US jobs report showed employers added 162,000 jobs in August. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1%, the Bureau of Labour Statistics said Friday.
The report, released on September 4, shows the payroll increase easily exceeded the 56,000-job gain forecast by economists polled by Reuters. It was also well above the average monthly increase of 31,000 over the previous 12 months.
The BLS also revised earlier figures higher. July payrolls were revised from a 23,000 decline to a 21,000 increase. June was raised from 20,000 to 31,000 jobs, adding a combined 55,000 jobs to the previous estimates.
Food services and drinking places led August hiring with 59,000 jobs. Local government education added 42,000 jobs and manufacturing gained 16,000 jobs. In addition, health care employment increased by 13,000.
The information industry lost 23,000 jobs, including declines in computing infrastructure, data processing and web hosting, publishing, and broadcasting. The BLS did not attribute those losses specifically to artificial intelligence.
Average hourly earnings for private nonfarm workers increased 0.3% to $37.75 in August. These earnings were 3.1% higher than a year earlier.
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The next US employment report, covering September, is scheduled for October 2.
