U.S. employers added 162,000 jobs in August, more than double economists’ forecasts and signaling a sharp acceleration from hiring in July.
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By the numbers
Economists polled by FactSet forecast employers added 65,000 jobs in August.
The unemployment rate was 4.1% in August, unchanged from the previous month.
Hiring in August was boosted by job gains in food services and bars as well as local government education. Those sectors added 59,000 and 42,000 jobs, respectively. Payroll gains in August were more five times the monthly average for the last 12 months, which is 31,000, according to the Labor Department.
“Today’s report was strong, and we could see markets take a react first, ask questions later approach. But once the dust settles, we think investors will realize the broader trend of labor market rebalancing is still intact,” said Tim Urbanowicz, chief investment strategist, Innovator ETFs at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, in an email.
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The Labor Department also revised payroll gains up for previous months, indicating hiring was slightly stronger than expected. Accounting for the revisions, 11,000 jobs were added in June and 21,000 were added July.
—This is breaking news and will be updated.