August 2021 Jobs Report

Unemployment Rate: 5.2 percent

Jobs Created: 235,000

Employment and Unemployment

1. The Department of Labor reported the unemployment rate decreased 0.2 percentage point to 5.2 in August.

2. Nonfarm jobs increased by 235,000 in August, after increasing by more than 1 million last month. In August, there were sizeable job gains in professional and business services, as well as transportation and warehousing. Meanwhile, retail saw a decline, and jobs were unchanged in leisure and hospitality.

3. In June and July, job gains were higher on net than first reported. The department revised the change in nonfarm jobs for those months up by a combined 134,000 jobs.          

4. The U-6 unemployment rate, a broader measure that includes part-time and discouraged workers, decreased 0.4 percentage point to 8.8% in August.

Labor Force Participation

1. The labor force participation rate, the share of people employed or looking for work, remained at 61.7%. It is 1.6 percentage points below the level in February 2020.

Wages

1. In August, average hourly earnings for all employees in private nonfarm jobs increased by $0.17 to $30.73.