U.S. Jobs Report Disappoints Only 235K Added vs. 720K Expectations
Posted on 09/03/2021
The U.S. labor market recovery hit the brakes in August. According to the U.S. Department of Labor in its monthly labor assessment, the U.S. economy added 235,000 jobs in August 2021 and the unemployment rate dipped to 5.2% from 5.4%. However, the economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for 720,000 new hires. The August jobs number is the worst since January 2021. The jobs reports puts a political hamper on the Joe Biden administration and could also cloud quantitative easing policy for the Federal Reserve. Hiring in August was particularly weak in services sectors that involve in-person interaction.
All employees, thousands, total nonfarm, seasonally adjusted
| Month | Change in Employes in Non-Farm Roles | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 2021 | 235,000 | |
| Jul 2021 | 1,053,000 | COVID delta variant gains traction in U.S. |
| Jun 2021 | 962,000 | |
| May 2021 | 614,000 | |
| Apr 2021 | 269,000 | |
| Mar 2021 | 785,000 | |
| Feb 2021 | 536,000 | |
| Jan 2021 | 233,000 | Biden inaugurated as U.S. President |
| Dec 2020 | -306,000 | Moderna and Pfizer COVID shots get EUA from FDA |
| Nov 2020 | 264,000 | |
| Oct 2020 | 680,000 | |
| Sep 2020 | 716,000 | |
| Aug 2020 | 1,583,000 | |
| Jul 2020 | 1,726,000 | |
| Jun 2020 | 4,846,000 | |
| May 2020 | 2,833,000 | Trump’s Operation Warp Speed starts on finding and developing COVID vaccines. |
| Apr 2020 | -20,679,000 | COVID lockdowns begin, travel halts, etc. |
| Mar 2020 | -1,683,000 | COVID pandemic spreads across U.S. CARES Act passes and Trump signs into law |
| Feb 2020 | 289,000 | |
| Jan 2020 | 315,000 | |
| Dec 2019 | 161,000 | |
| Nov 2019 | 234,000 | |
| Oct 2019 | 195,000 |
Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Current Employment Statistics survey (National)
Series Id: CES0000000001
Source: U.S. Department of Labor
Keywords: Federal Reserve System.