US non-farm payroll employment grew only 235k in August, well below expectation of 750k. Notable job gains occurred in professional and business services, transportation and warehousing, private education, manufacturing, and other services. Employment was still down by -5.3m from pre-pandemic level in February 2020.
Unemployment rate dropped from 5.4% to 5.2%, matched expectations. Number of unemployment persons edged down to 8.4m. Both measures remain far above their levels prior to the pandemic (unemployment rate at 3.5% and unemployed at 5.7m). Labor force participation rate was at 61.7%, staying in the 61.4% to 61.7% since June 2020.
Average hourly earnings rose 0.6% mom, above expectation of 0.4%.
