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THE UNEMPLOYMENT rate rose by 344,000 in August to 6 million, pushing the jobless rate up 0.2 points to 3.7%, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Job growth slowed in August, with 315,000 new jobs compared to more than half a million in July, a figure that marked a return to pre-pandemic levels of February 2020.
By sector, there were notable job gains in professional and business services, healthcare, and the retail trade.
The August data represents a cooling of the labor market following good data in July and after the previous four-month rate of 3.6%.
The creation of 344,000 jobs in August is also lower than the average number of employments created in the aforementioned period (March-June), when the average number of jobs created was 388,000.
The U.S. entered a technical recession in the second quarter with two straight quarters of falling GDP.
