August employment numbers disappoint
The country saw job gains but not as strong as was anticipated
As summer wound down, the country’s employment situation remained mostly unchanged, with the most job gains occurring in healthcare and professional and business services.
The country gained 142,000 jobs in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly employment report released Friday morning. The unemployment rate hardly budged, dropping from 6.2 percent in July to 6.1 percent in August.
National media reports on the BLS report noted that August’s employment numbers came in below economists’ estimates, with many analysts predicting gains over 200,000.
Healthcare came in second to professional and business services as sectors adding the most jobs in August.
Overall, healthcare added 34,000 jobs, with offices of physicians adding 7,800 jobs and hospitals adding 7,100. Outpatient care centers, home healthcare services and nursing and residential care facilities all added jobs – 2,800, 3,800 and 4,100, respectively.
The professional and business services sector added 47,000 jobs in August, with top gains in administrative and support services (23,000).
BLS noted that revisions to the June and July numbers resulted in fewer jobs than originally reported, with June dropping from 298,000 jobs to 267,000 and July adjusted from 209,000 to 212,000.
