USA raises the number of jobs by 315,000 in August

The United States added another 315,000 jobs in August, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

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The latest figure makes employment levels 240,000 higher than the pre-pandemic level in February 2020, and in the past 12 months, total jobs have increased by 5.8 million.

However, the job creation rate decreased slightly in August compared to the previous month, Where an increase of 528,000 jobs was recorded.

However, the latest statistics came as no surprise to analysts, with many expecting an increase of around 300,000 jobs.

Employment growth was led by professional and business services, which created 68,000 jobs, mainly in computer systems design, management and technical consulting, and architecture and engineering.

Employment in the healthcare sector increased by 48,000 positions, with the largest number of jobs in hospitals and doctors’ offices.

The retail sector was not far behind, creating 44,000 jobs, with general stores of merchandise, food and beverage, and healthcare and personal establishments the driver.

Employment in the manufacturing and financial services sector also grew by 22,000 and 17,000 jobs, respectively.

Overall, employees received a slight increase in hourly earnings of 10 cents, rising to $32.36.

Over the past 12 months, hourly earnings have risen 5.2%, but inflation, which appears to have peaked at 9.1% in June, has dampened wage increases.

There are also more workers returning to the office, with the number of people working remotely down 6.5% in August, down 0.6% month over month. This can provide a certain economic boost in cities by increasing the number of people who go to them.

Unemployment high

The unemployment rate also rose 0.2% to 3.7% in August, leaving the total number of unemployed at 6 million.

In July, unemployment numbers returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Breaking down unemployment, the BLS found that the number of permanently unemployed rose by 188,000, to 1.4 million, in August, while the number of people laid off remained largely unchanged at 782,000.

The level of the long-term unemployed, defined as those who have been without work for 27 weeks or more, remained stable at 18.8% of the total number of unemployed.

However, the labor force participation rate increased by a tiny 0.3% from July to 62.4%, still as low as 1.1% before the coronavirus pandemic began to spread in February 2020.

It is very likely that interest rates will continue to rise in the second quarter

The US labor market this year has marked the global economy, despite all the headwinds it faces, from high inflation to global uncertainty about the Ukraine war.

However, it is possible that resistance and continued high inflation will send strong signals to the Federal Reserve to continue its lifting policy. interest rates At its next meeting this month, which will hurt businesses and families alike.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently gave a hard-line speech In which he made clear his intention to reduce inflation.

The review and consulting firm RSM recently released a study that concluded that even if the Fed revised its inflation target upwards from 2% to 3%, this would require the loss of 1.7 million jobs, which would raise the unemployment rate to 4.6%.

The dollar maintains its interest on the pound in the second quarter

After the release of employment data, the US dollar continued its recent dominance over the British pound, that collapsed since Currency pair GBP/USD It fell, albeit by a meager 0.11% margin, making the dollar worth 0.87 pounds.

In other currency pairs, the EUR/USD . currency pair It fell 0.57% while US dollar / Japanese yen exchange rate maintained its stability.