Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until
8:30 a.m. (ET) Friday, September 2, 2022.
Statement of
William W. Beach
Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Friday, September 2, 2022
Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 315,000 in August,
and the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent. Notable job gains
occurred in professional and business services, health care, and
retail trade.
Total nonfarm employment increased by 5.8 million over the
year, as the labor market continued to recover from the job
losses of the pandemic-induced recession. This growth brings
total nonfarm employment 240,000 above its February 2020 level
before the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In August, employment growth continued in professional and
business services (+68,000). Job gains occurred in computer
systems design and related services (+14,000), management and
technical consulting services (+13,000), architectural and
engineering services (+10,000), and scientific research and
development services (+6,000). In August, legal services lost
jobs (-9,000). Over the past 12 months, professional and
business services has added 1.1 million jobs.
Health care added 48,000 jobs in August, with gains in
offices of physicians (+15,000), hospitals (+15,000), and
nursing and residential care facilities (+12,000). Health care
has added 412,000 jobs over the year. Despite this growth,
employment in health care is below its February 2020 level by
37,000, or 0.2 percent.
Employment in retail trade rose by 44,000 in August and by
422,000 over the past 12 months. Over the month, job growth
occurred in general merchandise stores (+15,000), food and
beverage stores (+15,000), health and personal care stores
(+10,000), and building material and garden supply stores
(+7,000). Employment in furniture and home furnishings stores
continued to trend down (-3,000).
Employment in manufacturing continued to trend up in August
(+22,000), with job gains concentrated in durable goods
(+19,000). Manufacturing has added 461,000 jobs over the year.
Financial activities added 17,000 jobs in August and
200,000 over the year.
Employment in wholesale trade rose by 15,000 in August and
has returned to its February 2020 level. This industry added
197,000 jobs over the year.
In August, mining employment increased by 6,000, with
growth concentrated in support activities for mining (+7,000).
Over the year, mining has added 68,000 jobs.
Employment in leisure and hospitality changed little in
August (+31,000), following gains that averaged 90,000 per month
over the first 7 months of the year. Employment in leisure and
hospitality is below its February 2020 level by 1.2 million, or
7.2 percent.
Employment showed little change over the month in other
major industries, including construction, transportation and
warehousing, information, other services, and government.
The average workweek for all private-sector workers fell by
0.1 hour to 34.5 hours in August. The average workweek for
manufacturing was little changed at 40.3 hours.
Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm
payrolls increased by 10 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $32.36 in
August. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have
increased by 5.2 percent.
Turning to the labor market indicators from the household
survey, the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage point to
3.7 percent in August. The number of unemployed people increased
by 344,000 over the month to 6.0 million. In July, these
measures had returned to their levels in February 2020, prior to
the pandemic.
In August, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.5
percent) and Hispanics (4.5 percent) increased. The jobless
rates for adult women (3.3 percent), teenagers (10.4 percent),
Whites (3.2 percent), Blacks (6.4 percent), and Asians (2.8
percent) showed little change.
Among the unemployed, the number of permanent job losers
increased by 188,000 to 1.4 million in August. The number of
people on temporary layoff, at 782,000, was essentially
unchanged over the month.
By duration of unemployment, the number of people
unemployed for 27 weeks or more was little changed at 1.1
million in August. These long-term unemployed accounted for 18.8
percent of all unemployed people in August.
The labor force participation rate, at 62.4 percent,
increased by 0.3 percentage point in August, and the employment-
population ratio, at 60.1 percent, changed little. Both measures
are below their February 2020 levels, by 1.0 percentage point
and 1.1 percentage points, respectively.
In August, the number of people working part time for
economic reasons was little changed at 4.1 million.
The number of people not in the labor force who currently
want a job decreased by 361,000 to 5.5 million in August. This
measure remains above its February 2020 level of 5.0 million.
Among those who were not in the labor force but wanted a
job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor
force, at 1.4 million, was little changed in August. (People who
are marginally attached to the labor force had not actively
looked for work in the 4 weeks prior to the survey but wanted a
job, were available for work, and had looked for a job within
the last 12 months.) The number of discouraged workers, a subset
of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were
available for them, at 366,000, was also little changed in
August.
Looking at the supplemental pandemic-related measures from
the household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally
adjusted), the share of employed people who teleworked because
of the pandemic was 6.5 percent in August, down from 7.1 percent
the month before. These data refer only to employed people who
teleworked or worked at home for pay at some point in the last 4
weeks specifically because of the pandemic; they do not include
all instances of telework.
In August, the number of people who reported that they had
been unable to work because their employer closed or lost
business due to the pandemic fell by 268,000 to 1.9 million.
(These individuals did not work at all or worked fewer hours at
some point in the last 4 weeks due to the pandemic.) Among those
who reported in August that they were unable to work because of
pandemic-related closures or lost business, 21.5 percent
received at least some pay from their employer for the hours not
worked, little changed from July.
Among those not in the labor force in August, 523,000
people were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic,
little changed from July. (To be counted as unemployed, by
definition, individuals must either be actively searching for
work or on temporary layoff.)
In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 315,000
in August, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent.
United States Department of Labor
