US jobs market weakens further in August

The US jobs market weakened further in August, raising new fears about the health of the world’s largest economy.

Employers added just 22,000 jobs last month, fewer than expected, while the unemployment rate ticked up from 4.2% to 4.3%, according to the Labor Department.

The figures cap a string of shaky data this week on the job market and add to the concerns that spiked last month, when the Labor Department said hiring in May and June had been far weaker than it had initially estimated.

On Friday, the department said its latest estimates showed the US actually lost jobs in June, the first such decline since 2020.

Investors, who had already been betting that the US central bank would respond to the weakening labour market with a cut to interest rates at its meeting this month, said that move was now all but certain.

“The warning bell that rang in the labour market a month ago just got louder,” said Olu Sonola, head of US economic research for Fitch Ratings.

US President Donald Trump responded to the signs of slowdown in August by firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, accusing her, without evidence, of rigging the numbers to make him look bad.

But analysts say the troubles in the job market are partly due to the president’s sweeping changes to tariff and immigration policy, which economists have consistently warned would hurt the economy, by raising costs and uncertainty for firms.

His administration has also cut government spending, firing thousands of government workers.

The Labor Department said the federal government shed 15,000 positions last month. Manufacturing and construction firms also reported payroll declines, offsetting gains in health care.

“Four straight months of manufacturing job losses stand out,” Mr Sonola said. “It’s hard to argue that tariff uncertainty isn’t a key driver of this weakness.”

The number of jobs created each month has been slowing steadily since the boom that followed the reopening from the pandemic.

But analysts have said the economy only needs to create about 50,000 jobs each month to keep up with population growth – far fewer than it once did – as Trump’s crackdown on immigration prompts the stream of new workers that entered the US in recent years to dry up.

Stock markets opened slightly higher following the report, which also showed average hourly pay rising 3.7% over the past year.

In the global bond markets, the rates that investors demand for borrowing dropped sharply, reversing a surge earlier in the week, as confidence grew in a Fed rate cut.

“The initial reaction suggests markets are focused on Fed rate cuts rather than concerns about a cooling economy,” said Ellen Zentner, chief economic Strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

“Bad news looks like good news, at least this morning.”

Speaking to broadcaster CNBC, White House economic adviser Kevin Hasset conceded that the August jobs numbers were “disappointing” but said he expected revisions in future months would present a better picture.

Earlier this week, the government reported that job openings had fallen to the lowest level since 2024, while job seekers outnumbered the posts for the first time since the pandemic.

Claims for unemployment payments also ticked up this week, while Friday’s report put the unemployment rate at the highest level since October 2021, although it is still not far from historic lows.