American employers added just 22,000 jobs in August, the Associated Press reports, as the labor market continues to show signs of cooling amid general economic uncertainty.
Hiring decelerated from 79,000 in July, the Labor Department said Friday, and the unemployment rate climbed to 4.3% — worse than expected and the highest level since 2021.
Factories lost 12,000 jobs last month, marking the fourth consecutive month that manufacturers have cut payrolls. Construction companies and the federal government shed 7,000 and 15,000 jobs, respectively.
Labor Department revisions took 21,000 jobs off June and July payrolls. They also revealed that employers had actually cut 13,000 jobs in June — the first monthly job losses since December 2020.
The average hourly earnings of workers were up 0.3% from July and 3.7% from August of last year, in line with expectations.
