Jobless rate declines amid signs of slower hiring
WASHINGTON — U.S. unemployment dropped sharply in August from 10.2 percent to a still-high 8.4 percent, with about half the 22 million jobs lost to the coronavirus outbreak recovered so far, the government said Friday in one of the last major economic reports before Election Day.
Employers added 1.4 million jobs last month, down from 1.7 million in July and the fewest since hiring resumed in May. And an increasingly large share of Americans reported that their jobs are gone for good, according to the Labor Department report.
Altogether, that was seen by economists as evidence that further improvement is going to be sluggish and uneven.
“The fact that employment is settling into a trend of slower, grinding growth is worrisome for the broader recovery,” said Lydia Boussour, an economist at Oxford Economics.
The drop in unemployment was sharper than most
economists expected and was attributed mainly to businesses recalling workers who had been temporarily laid off.
Private companies added just over 1 million jobs in August, with the government providing nearly 350,000 others, including a quarter-million temporary census workers. The fall in private hiring from 1.5 million jobs in July was seen as a sign that employers remain cautious with the virus still out of control.
The outbreak is blamed for about 187,000 deaths and almost 6.2 million confirmed infections in the U.S., the highest totals in the world.
Richard Moody, chief economist at Regions Financial, noted that about half of the private-sector job gains were in three categories: retail, restaurants, hotels and casinos, and health care. All have benefited from the reopening of states’ economies.
“When the reopening effect wears off, the overall job gains in coming months should be considerably
smaller,” he said.
Retailers added 250,000 jobs, led by big gains at warehouse clubs and supercenters, and restaurants, hotels and entertainment companies gained 174,000. Health care added
90,000. But manufacturers, which are enjoying a jump in demand, particularly for cars, added just 29,000 jobs, one-tenth of their job growth in June. Construction added just 16,000 despite strong home building.