US Labour Market Beats Estimates With 162,000 New Jobs In August

The US labour market showed renewed strength in August, with non-farm payroll employment rising by 162,000 and the unemployment rate remaining unchanged at 4.1%, according to data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday.

The increase was significantly higher than the average monthly gain of 31,000 recorded over the previous 12 months, the BLS said.

Employment gains were concentrated in food services and drinking places, local government education and manufacturing, while the information sector recorded job losses.

Food, Manufacturing Lead Gains

Food services and drinking places added 59,000 jobs in August, well above their average monthly increase of 12,000 over the preceding year, according to the BLS.

Local government education employment rose by 42,000, largely reversing a decline recorded in the previous month.

The BLS noted that employment in the segment can fluctuate during the summer as teachers temporarily leave payrolls before returning with the new academic year.

Manufacturing employment increased by 16,000, continuing its upward trend. Machinery manufacturing and fabricated metal product manufacturing each added 6,000 jobs during the month.

Manufacturing employment has risen by 58,000 since reaching a recent low in December 2025, the BLS said.

According to a report by Bloomberg (BBG), manufacturing payrolls recorded their strongest increase since 2023, while construction employment posted its biggest gain since January.

Economists attributed the demand linked to the data-centre buildout as a factor supporting construction hiring, it said.

Information Sector Sheds Jobs

The information sector lost 23,000 jobs in August, following average monthly declines of 8,000 over the previous 12 months, according to the BLS.

Job losses were recorded across computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting and related services, publishing, and broadcasting and content providers.

Bloomberg report said the financial activities and information sectors, which are viewed as particularly vulnerable to AI-related job displacement, together shed 34,000 positions.

Wage Growth Remains Moderate

Average hourly earnings for private-sector workers increased by 0.3% month-on-month to $37.75 in August, while annual wage growth stood at 3.1%, the BLS said. The average workweek also edged up by 0.1 hour to 34.4 hours.

The labour force participation rate rose slightly to 61.6%, although it remained 0.5 percentage point below its January level. The employment-population ratio was unchanged at 59.1%.

The participation increase was concentrated among younger and older workers, while participation among prime-age workers remained unchanged at 83.4%, as per the BBG report.

The BLS also revised June payroll growth to 31,000 from 20,000 and July's figure to 21,000 from a previously reported decline of 23,000. The combined revisions lifted employment for June and July by 55,000.

The stronger report could influence the Federal Reserve's rate decision, with upcoming inflation data likely to remain important.