WASHINGTON, DC - In the latest Joint Economic Committee Employment Update, jobs increased by 22,000 in August, indicating the economy continued to slow through the summer. The unemployment rate remained relatively steady, ticking up 0.1 percentage points to 4.3 percent, and the labor force participation rates ticked up at the same rate of 0.1 percentage points. Last month, prime age job seekers increased by 0.3 percentage points to 83.7 percent up from July but was still down slightly from August 2024 (83.9 percent). The best performing sectors were private education and health services (+862K) and leisure and hospitality (+232K), while the worst performing sectors were federal government (-86K) and manufacturing (-78K). 

Revised jobs numbers for July and June were also released. July revisions show an increase from 73K to 79K jobs, while June went negative to -13K.

Nominal earnings were up. For all employees, hourly nominal earnings increased 0.27 percent in August from July and 3.69 percent since August 2024. Weekly earnings in the category also increased 0.27 percent from July to August and 3.39 percent from August 2024. Earnings rose the most in the information sector (5.45 percent) and the least in the private education and health services sector (1.62 percent).

The July Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), released Wednesday, also showed a slowing economy with the number of unemployed (7.236 million) outpacing the number of job openings (7.181 million) for the first time since April 2021.

For the full JEC Employment Update, visit https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/employment-update.