By Tom Burnett CFA
On September 2, 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the August employment report. Total jobs grew by 315,000 to a new record high of 152.7 million, 240,000 higher than the previous record set in February 2020. Over the past 12 months, total nonfarm employment has risen by 5.8 million. The unemployment rate rose in August to 3.7% from 3.5% in July. The number of unemployed rose by 344,000 to 6.0 million. The Job Openings report from August 28 showed openings of 11.2 million, almost twice the number of unemployed job seekers recorded in today’s report. The total jobs numbers from June and July were revised downwards by a combined 107,000.
Manufacturing employment grew by 22,000 in August, making the total increase from one year ago 461,000.
Average hourly earnings for workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by $0.10 to $32.36, up 5.2% from one year ago.
The next employment report will be issued on October 7, 2022.
Tom Burnett CFA is Director of Research