Payroll employment rose 162,000 in August 2026

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 162,000 in August, higher than both the previous month’s increase of 21,000 and the average monthly gain of 31,000 over the prior 12 months. In August, employment increased in food services and drinking places and in local government education. The information industry lost jobs.

Employment in food services and drinking places increased by 59,000 in August, well above the average monthly gain of 12,000 over the prior 12 months.

Local government education added 42,000 jobs in August, largely offsetting a decrease in the prior month. Local government education has shown little net change since January 2025.

Employment in manufacturing continued its upward trend (+16,000) over the month and is up by 58,000 since a recent low in December 2025. Employment in machinery manufacturing (+6,000) and in fabricated metal product manufacturing (+6,000) continued trending up in August. 

Employment in health care also continued to trend up (+13,000) but at a slower pace than the average monthly gain over the prior 12 months (+32,000). Home health care services (+11,000) and hospitals (+8,000) added jobs over the month. 

Information employment declined by 23,000 in August, following losses that averaged 8,000 per month over the prior 12 months. In August, job losses occurred in computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting, and related services (−8,000), in publishing industries (−7,000), and in broadcasting and content providers (−5,000).

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. The most recent two months are preliminary. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — August 2026." We also have more charts of national employment, hours, and earnings data.