The U.S. added only 22,000 jobs in August, according to federal figures Friday that increased worries about the employment market.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics report was short of Wall Street estimates, which expected closer to 75,000 jobs, and represented a big slowdown from the 79,000 positions added in July.
The unemployment rate rose slightly, from 4.2% to 4.3%, as losses in the federal government, mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction offset job gains in the health sector.
The slowdown could have sweeping ramifications for the Federal Reserve, which is expected to respond to the situation by cutting interest rates later this month.
It will also increase pressure on President Trump, who recently fired the head of the BLS because he doubted the veracity of its numbers.
“Donald Trump inherited an economy built on years of steady job growth. In just seven months, he’s managed to screw it up — just like he’s screwed up everything else in his life,” Rep. Brendan Boyle, Pennsylvania Democrat, said. “Just last month, he axed a nonpartisan official for telling the truth about the numbers. Who will he blame this time?”
Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of the conservative Job Creators Network, said the stagnant job numbers reflect high interest rates.
“When small businesses, which create nearly two-thirds of new jobs, can’t access credit, they can’t invest back into their businesses,” Mr. Ortiz said. “As a result, job creation suffers. The Federal Reserve should respond by cutting rates by a minimum of half a point at its meeting this month, as President Trump has long said. If the Fed had listened to Trump, summer job creation would have been much stronger.”
Health care added 31,000 jobs, notably at ambulatory health care services, nursing and residential care facilities and hospitals.
Employment in the federal government continued its decline, down 15,000 in August, and is down by 97,000 since January, the BLS said.
Heather Long, the chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said multiple sectors have lost thousands of jobs over the past three months, including 51,000 in the business and professional services sector.
“The U.S. job market is almost entirely dependent on healthcare,” she wrote on X. “That’s not healthy for the economy.”
Manufacturing employment saw little change in August but was down 12,000 positions, or 78,000 for the year, as Mr. Trump tries to resurrect the sector with tariffs, tax cuts and deregulation.
“Job losses were particularly acute in professional/business services, the federal government, and wholesale trade, but there have also been sustained losses over recent months in manufacturing, construction, and mining, an indication that Trump’s blue-collar renaissance is clearly not happening,” Economic Policy Institute senior economist Elise Gould said.
