The U.S. economy added 96,000 jobs in August, fewer than the 125,000 gain forecast by economists and well below the 200,000 needed to keep pace with the population growth, according to the latest report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The national unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households, fell to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent as the number of people looking for jobs shrank.
Private sector companies accounted for all of the growth in payrolls, adding 103,000 jobs. Payroll numbers for the prior two months were revised lower: July payrolls rose 141,000 compared with the initially reported 163,000, while June’s gain was 45,000 instead of 64,000.
Job gains were unevenly spread. Manufacturing and temporary help services lost 15,000 and 4,900 jobs, respectively.
Net gainers included education, health care, professional services, leisure and hospitality, retail and wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, financial services, and information and communications.
Construction added only 1,000 jobs.
Meanwhile, federal, state and local governments lost a combined 7,000 jobs.
The economy has added private sector jobs for 30 consecutive months, for a total of 4.6 million jobs during that period, the unemployment rate remains above 8 percent.
