JOB MARKET SNAPSHOT
Employment Growth
+162,000
nonfarm payrolls
Well above the prior 12-month average of about +31,000
Unemployment Rate
4.1%
seasonally adjusted
Unchanged; about 7.0 million unemployed
Wage Growth
$37.75
average hourly earnings
Up 10¢ (0.3%) month over month; +3.1% year over year
Labor force
Participation rose 0.2 percentage point to 61.6%. The employment-population ratio climbed to 59.1%, also up 0.2 point. The broader U-6 underemployment rate fell to 7.7%.
Where the jobs were
Food services and drinking places added 59,000 jobs. Local government education rose 42,000, mostly reversing July's drop. Manufacturing added 16,000, construction 22,000, and health care 13,000. Information lost 23,000 jobs.
Hours and revisions
The average workweek edged up to 34.4 hours. July payrolls were revised from -23,000 to +21,000, and June was revised from +20,000 to +31,000. Combined, June and July are 55,000 higher than previously reported.
What is next
Private payrolls rose about 127,000 and government payrolls rose about 35,000. The next report, covering September, is scheduled for Friday, October 2, 2026.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2026 Employment Situation report, released September 4, 2026.