Consumer News: August jobs report shows hiring rebound, led by restaurants and schools

Employers added 162,000 jobs while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• U.S. employers added 162,000 jobs in August, far exceeding the average monthly gain of 31,000 over the previous year.

• Restaurants and bars added the most jobs, followed by local government education, while manufacturing and healthcare posted smaller gains.

• The information sector lost 23,000 jobs, with cuts affecting data processing, publishing, and broadcasting.

The U.S. labor market regained momentum in August as employers added 162,000 jobs and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1%, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment report.

The increase was a sharp improvement from the weak job growth reported during much of the past year. Employers had added an average of only 31,000 jobs per month during the previous 12 months.

However, the gains were concentrated in a relatively small number of industries. Restaurants, schools, and several parts of the manufacturing economy accounted for much of the hiring, while technology-related information businesses continued to cut workers.

Restaurants and schools lead hiring

Food services and drinking places added 59,000 jobs in August, the largest increase among the industries highlighted by the government. That was nearly five times the sectors average monthly gain of 12,000 during the previous year.

Local government education added another 42,000 jobs. The increase largely reversed a decline in July and may partly reflect the seasonal return of school employees. Despite the August gain, employment in local government education has shown little net change since January 2025.

Construction employment increased by 22,000, although the BLS said the overall monthly change was not statistically significant. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors added 8,000 jobs.

Manufacturing continued its recent recovery, adding 16,000 positions. Machinery manufacturers and fabricated metal product manufacturers each added 6,000 jobs. Factory employment has increased by 58,000 since reaching a recent low in December 2025.

Healthcare added 13,000 jobs. Home healthcare services gained 11,000 positions, while hospitals added 8,000. Those increases were partly offset by losses elsewhere in the industry.

Even with Augusts increase, healthcare hiring has slowed considerably. The sector added an average of 32,000 jobs per month during the previous 12 months.

Information sector posts steepest losses

The information industry was the reports clear weak spot, losing 23,000 jobs in August. That followed average monthly losses of 8,000 over the previous year.

Computing infrastructure providers, data processing companies, web hosting services, and related businesses eliminated 8,000 jobs. Publishing industries cut 7,000 positions, while broadcasters and content providers lost 5,000.

Employment changed little in most other major sectors, including retail, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, financial services, professional and business services, mining, social assistance, and other services.

Earlier estimates revised higher

The government also substantially upgraded its estimates for June and July.

Junes gain was revised from 20,000 to 31,000 jobs. Julys initially reported loss of 23,000 was revised to a gain of 21,000. Together, the revisions added 55,000 jobs to previous estimates.

The revisions mean the labor market was somewhat stronger entering August than the original reports suggested, although the pace of hiring remained modest.

Average hourly earnings for private-sector workers increased by 10 cents, or 0.3%, to $37.75 in August. Wages were 3.1% higher than a year earlier.

The average workweek edged up by 0.1 hour to 34.4 hours. The number of people working part time because they could not find full-time work or had their hours reduced fell by 414,000 to 4.4 million.