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Payroll employment increased by 130,000 in August 2019

September 10, 2019

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 130,000 in August. Job growth has averaged 158,000 per month in 2019, which is below the average monthly gain of 223,000 in 2018.

Over-the-month change in total nonfarm payroll employment, seasonally adjusted, August 2018–August 2019

Month

Over-the-month change

Aug 2019

130,000

Jul 2019

159,000

Jun 2019

178,000

May 2019

62,000

Apr 2019

216,000

Mar 2019

153,000

Feb 2019

56,000

Jan 2019

312,000

Dec 2018

227,000

Nov 2018

196,000

Oct 2018

277,000

Sep 2018

108,000

Aug 2018

282,000

Employment in education and health services continued to trend up in August (+32,000), with health care adding 24,000 jobs over the month and 392,000 jobs over the 12 months ending in August 2019. Employment in financial activities increased by 15,000 in August 2019, with nearly half of the gain (+7,000) occurring in insurance carriers and related activities. Financial activities added 111,000 jobs over the past year.

Over-the-month change in employment, by major industry, seasonally adjusted, July 2019–August 2019

Industry

Over-the-month change

Mining and logging

-5,000

Construction

14,000

Manufacturing

3,000

Wholesale trade

2,900

Retail trade

-11,100

Transportation and warehousing

-500

Utilities

-1,400

Information

0

Financial activities

15,000

Professional and business services

37,000

Education and health services

32,000

Leisure and hospitality

12,000

Other services

-1,000

Government

34,000

Employment in professional and business services continued to trend up in August (+37,000). Monthly job gains in professional and business services have averaged 34,000 thus far in 2019, below the average monthly gain of 47,000 in 2018.

Employment increased by 28,000 in federal government from July 2019 to August 2019. Much of that gain resulted from the hiring of 25,000 temporary workers to prepare for the 2020 Census.

Employment showed little change over the month in construction, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, and leisure and hospitality. Job growth in these industries has moderated thus far in 2019 compared with 2018.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent 2 months are preliminary. To learn more, see “The Employment Situation — August 2019“ news release. For additional charts, see Graphics for Economic News Releases: The Employment Situation.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Payroll employment increased by 130,000 in August 2019 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/payroll-employment-increased-by-130000-in-august-2019.htm (visited March 29, 2024).

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