Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 187,000 in August, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.8%.
Job gains occurred in health care, leisure and hospitality, social assistance, and construction.
Employment in leisure and hospitality continued to trend up in August (+40,000). The industry had gained an average of 61,000 jobs per month over the prior 12 months. Employment in leisure and hospitality remains below its pre-pandemic February 2020 level by 290,000, or 1.7%.
Social assistance employment increased by 26,000 in August, in line with the prior 12-month average gain (+22,000). Over the month, job growth continued in individual and family services (+21,000).
Health care added 71,000 jobs, following a gain of similar magnitude in July. In August, job growth continued in ambulatory health care services (+40,000), nursing and residential care facilities (+17,000), and hospitals (+15,000).
Construction employment continued to trend up in August (+22,000), in line with the average monthly gain over the prior 12 months (+17,000). Within the industry, employment trended up in specialty trade contractors (+11,000) and in heavy and civil engineering construction (+7,000).
Read the BLS release.
