The US economy added 162,000 jobs in August, according to the monthly jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday. This figure significantly exceeded analysts' expectations. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 56,000 gains, while the Wall Street Journal predicted 53,000 and Bloomberg 55,000. In July, the economy had lost 23,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged. The largest gains were in local government education (public schools) and food services. Local government education added nearly 42,000 jobs as the 2026-27 school year begins across much of the US, with teachers typically coming off payrolls during the summer. Food services saw the biggest increase, adding 59,000 jobs.
Construction added 22,000 jobs, and healthcare added 12,000. However, the information sector—which includes data processing, web hosting, publishing, broadcasting, and telecommunications—lost 23,000 jobs, with notable layoffs at companies like Scripps TV and Zillow. The financial activities sector (insurance, commercial banking, real estate) dropped by 12,000 jobs.
These figures contrast sharply with the ADP national employment report, which tracks private payrolls and found only 38,000 jobs added. Meanwhile, the Labor Department's JOLTS report released on Tuesday showed job openings slightly increased to 7.3 million in July, while total separations fell to 5.1 million.
The job gains come ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting later this month. According to CME Group's FedWatch, the probability of a 25-basis-point rate increase to 3.75-4.00% rose from 49% on Thursday to 60% on Friday. US President Donald Trump quickly commented on the report, pushing for rate cuts. In a post on Truth Social, he wrote: "Lower the interest rates because the U.S.A. is a much stronger credit than it was a short time ago!" He also ramped up threats to cut off trade with nations that the US has a deficit with if the central bank does not cut rates.
Despite the strong jobs report, US markets are trending downwards. The Nasdaq is down 0.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.5%, and the S&P 500 is down 0.3% amid Trump's comments. Meanwhile, Canada released its jobs report amid the ongoing trade dispute with the US. The Canadian economy lost 41,700 jobs, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 6.4%. Tony Stillo, director of Canada Economics at Oxford Economics, noted in a note provided to Al Jazeera that the economy will likely struggle to create jobs in the near term due to mounting headwinds from new US-Canada tariffs, greater uncertainty from the trade war flare-up, the ongoing Iran conflict, and a shrinking population.
Source: www.aljazeera.com