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U.S. creates just 130,000 new jobs in August, keeping Fed on track to cut rates
The economy created just 130,000 new jobs in August, offering more evidence that hiring has slowed in 2019. Most Americans who want a job can find one, however, and the 3.7% unemployment rate is near a 50-year low.
The economy added just 130,000 new jobs in August, marking the smallest increase in three months and offering more evidence that hiring has slowed amid a broadening trade dispute with China that’s disrupted the U.S. and global economies.
The soft employment figures are all but certain to keep the Federal Reserve on track to cut interest rates later this month, even after another sharp increase in wages.
The gain in new jobs was even weaker if hiring tied to the upcoming U.S. Census is stripped out. The private sector added fewer than 100,000 new jobs last month.
The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7%.
The economy had added an average of 150,000 new jobs a month in the past six months, down from 232,000 at the beginning of the year. The dropoff is evident even if hiring in August turns out to be stronger than initially reported.
Yet rising wages, steady hiring and the lowest unemployment rate in half a century are giving consumers enough confidence to keep spending at levels likely to help the U.S. avert recession even as the rest of the world struggles to grow.
