Employment Situation

August 2026

Released September 04, 2026

+162K
Change in nonfarm payroll jobs
Jul 2026 to Aug 2026

+0.0 percent
Change in unemployment rate
Jul 2026 to Aug 2026

+0.2 percent
Change in labor force participation rate
Jul 2026 to Aug 2026

From July 2026 to August 2026:

• Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 162K to 159.07 million.
  • Private sector payroll employment increased by 127K to 135.75 million.
  • Government payroll employment increased by 35K to 23.32 million.
• The headline unemployment rate (U-3) remained unchanged at 4.1 percent.
  • The broadest measure of unemployment (U-6, which adds underemployment to unemployment) decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 7.7 percent.
• The labor force participation rate (LFPR) increased by 0.2 percentage points to 61.6 percent.

From July 2026 to August 2026:

• The best performing sectors were leisure and hospitality (+62K) and state and local government (+40K).
• The worst performing sectors were information (-23K) and financial activities (-11K).

From August 2025 to August 2026:

• The best performing sectors were private education and health services (+539K) and professional and business services (+152K).
• The worst performing sectors were federal government (-242K) and information (-115K).

From August 2025 to August 2026:

• For all employees on private nonfarm payrolls:
  • Average nominal weekly earnings increased by 3.69 percent.
  • Average nominal hourly earnings increased by 3.09 percent.
• For production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls:
  • Average nominal weekly earnings increased by 3.61 percent.
  • Average nominal hourly earnings increased by 3.3 percent.

Table 1. Labor Indicators

	Aug 2026	Jul 2026	M/M change	Aug 2025	Y/Y change
Payroll jobs
Nonfarm	159.075M	158.913M	162K	158.472M	603K
Private	135.752M	135.625M	127K	134.937M	815K
Government	23.323M	23.288M	35K	23.535M	-212K
Unemployment
Official rate (U-3)	4.1%	4.1%	0.0pp	4.3%	-0.2pp
Broader rate (U-6)	7.7%	7.9%	-0.2pp	8.1%	-0.4pp
Labor force participation rate
16 years and over	61.6%	61.4%	0.2pp	62.3%	-0.7pp
Prime age (25-54 years)	83.4%	83.4%	0.0pp	83.7%	-0.3pp
Employment-to-Population Ratio	59.1%	58.9%	0.2pp	59.6%	-0.5pp

Table 2. Earnings Indicators

	Aug 2026	Jul 2026	M/M change	Aug 2025	Y/Y change
Production and non-supervisory
Hourly earnings	$32.53	$32.42	0.34%	$31.49	3.30%
Weekly earnings	$1,099.51	$1,095.80	0.34%	$1,061.21	3.61%
All employees
Hourly earnings	$37.75	$37.65	0.27%	$36.62	3.09%
Weekly earnings	$1,298.60	$1,291.40	0.56%	$1,252.40	3.69%

Table 3. Revisions

	1st	2nd	3rd	Net revision
Nonfarm jobs added
August 2026	162K
July 2026	-23K	21K		44K
June 2026	57K	20K	31K	-26K

Table 4. Comparison to ADP Estimate

	BLS	ADP	Difference
Private nonfarm jobs added	127K	38K	89K

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey

July 2026

Released September 01, 2026

+89K
Change in nonfarm job openings
Jun 2026 to Jul 2026

-278K
Change in nonfarm hires
Jun 2026 to Jul 2026

-265K
Change in nonfarm separations
Jun 2026 to Jul 2026

Job Openings: The total number of nonfarm job openings increased by 89K to 7.27 million, and the rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 4.4 percent.

• The best performing sectors were manufacturing (+79K) and private education and health services (+52K).
• The worst performing sectors were professional and business services (-65K) and leisure and hospitality (-42K).

Hires: The total number of nonfarm hires decreased by 278K to 5.05 million, and the rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 3.2 percent.

• The best performing sectors were construction (+47K) and leisure and hospitality (+24K).
• The worst performing sectors were professional and business services (-188K) and trade, transportation, and utilities (-50K).

Separations: The total number of nonfarm separations decreased by 265K to 5.07 million, and the rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 3.2 percent.

• Quits decreased by 157K to 3.06 million, and the rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 1.9 percent.
• Layoffs and discharges decreased by 119K to 1.67 million, and the rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 1 percent.
• Other separations increased by 10K to 350K, and the rate remained unchanged at 0.2 percent.

Table 5. JOLTS Level Indicators

	Jul 2026	Jun 2026	M/M change	Jul 2025	Y/Y change
Job openings level
Nonfarm	7.271M	7.182M	89K	7.089M	182K
Private	6.461M	6.420M	41K	6.307M	154K
Hire level
Nonfarm	5.054M	5.332M	-278K	5.225M	-171K
Private	4.758M	5.016M	-258K	4.908M	-150K
Separation level
Nonfarm	5.072M	5.337M	-265K	5.170M	-98K
Private	4.731M	5.002M	-271K	4.855M	-124K

Table 6. JOLTS Rate Indicators

	Jul 2026	Jun 2026	M/M change	Jul 2025	Y/Y change
Job openings rate
Nonfarm	4.4%	4.3%	0.1pp	4.3%	0.1pp
Private	4.5%	4.5%	0.0pp	4.5%	0.0pp
Hire rate
Nonfarm	3.2%	3.4%	-0.2pp	3.3%	-0.1pp
Private	3.5%	3.7%	-0.2pp	3.6%	-0.1pp
Separation rate
Nonfarm	3.2%	3.4%	-0.2pp	3.3%	-0.1pp
Private	3.5%	3.7%	-0.2pp	3.6%	-0.1pp

Upcoming releases

Date	Time	Release	Data source
Sep 08	10:00 AM	Monthly Debt Update, September 2026	U.S. Treasury
Sep 11	08:30 AM	Monthly Inflation Update, August 2026	Bureau of Labor Statistics
Sep 14	10:00 AM	Monthly Fiscal Update, August 2026	U.S. Treasury
Sep 18	10:00 AM	State Employment and Unemployment, August 2026	Bureau of Labor Statistics
Sep 30	08:30 AM	Monthly Expenditures Update, August 2026	Bureau of Economic Analysis
Sep 30	08:30 AM	Monthly GDP Update, Q2 2026 Third Estimate	Bureau of Economic Analysis
Oct 02	08:30 AM	Monthly Employment Update, September 2026	Bureau of Labor Statistics

Notes

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics; ADP National Employment Report; JEC Republicans calculations

“pp” = percentage points; “M/M” = month over month; “Y/Y” = year over year

Consistent with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, monthly figures are seasonally adjusted. Discrepancy in change figures is possible due to rounding.