Growth for U.S. jobs slows down

Despite employment gains, wage raises remain tepid

WASHINGTON— U.S. job growth slowed in August as employers added 156,000 jobs, still enough to suggest that most businesses remain confident in an economy now in its ninth year of recovery from the Great Recession.

The unemployment rate ticked up from 4.3 per cent to a still-low 4.4 per cent, the Labor Department said Friday. Job growth in June and July was revised down by a combined 41,000, leaving an average monthly gain this year of a solid 176,000.

Taken as a whole, Friday’s jobs report pointed to an economy that is still steadily generating jobs, though at a slower pace than it did earlier in the recovery from the recession. With fewer people looking for work, fewer jobs are being filled.

One persistent soft spot in the job market is that pay raises remain tepid. Average hourly pay rose just 2.5 per cent over the12 months that ended in August. Wage growth typically averages 3.5 to 4 per cent annually when unemployment is this low.

The U.S. economy has grown at a subpar annual pace of 2.1 per cent during the first six months of 2017. Still, the August jobs report comes as Americans have grown more optimistic. A measure of consumer confidence in August hit its highest level in 16 years, the Conference Board said this week.

Inflation is low. Consumer spending in July rose at its fastest pace in three months. The stock market is up 10 per cent so far this year. One measure of factory orders suggests that business investment is increasing.

Even the traumatic damage caused by hurricane Harvey around the Houston region may not break the national economy’s stride. Gasoline prices are rising as flooding knocked out refineries and ports, but rebuilding efforts in the coming months could provide a stimulative benefit.

Hiring this year has averaged 176,000 a month, roughly in line with 2016’s average of 187,000. August was the 83rd straight month of job gains.