The US job market rebounded in August as employers added a surprising 162,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate stayed at a low 4.1 percent.

The jobs report, issued by the Labor Department on Friday, could be good news for President Donald Trump two months before midterm elections in which the health of the economy is weighing on voters' minds.

Hiring far exceeded the 65,000 forecasters had expected, according to a poll by FactSet.

Labor Department revisions also looked good, adding 55,000 to June and July payrolls. Employers created 21,000 jobs in July; the Labor Department had originally reported that they’d cut 23,000.

Restaurants and bars added 59,000 jobs last month, construction companies 22,000 and manufacturers 16,000.

Factory jobs are up by 58,000 since hitting a recent low in December, the Labor Department noted.

So far this year, employers – companies, government agencies and nonprofits – have added an average of more than 80,000 jobs a month. That is up from a dismal 9,700 last year.

But hiring remains well below the 166,000 monthly jobs that were the norm in 2023 and 2024, let alone the 491,000 a month recorded during the 2021-2022 hiring boom that followed pandemic lockdowns.

And the US labour force – the number of people working or looking for work – jumped by 683,000 last month after falling in June and July.

Yet many households are struggling with the high cost of living, and wage gains aren’t helping much. Average hourly wages rose 3.1 percent last month from a year earlier, the weakest year-over-year increase since May 2021.

Friday’s report may increase the likelihood that the US Federal Reserve will raise its key short-term interest rate when it next meets September 15-16.

Solid hiring sends a signal that current borrowing costs aren’t necessarily high enough to restrain the economy and cool inflation.

Fed chair Kevin Warsh said last week that inflation, at 3.7 percent according to the Fed’s preferred measure, remains too far above the central bank’s 2 percent target, and added that without further progress, they would have “work to do”. (AP)



Edited by Edmond Fong