US economy adds less-than-expected 22,000 jobs in August

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The US economy added 22,000 jobs in August, well below the market expectations, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday.

The market expectation for non-farm payrolls last month was set to show a gain of 75,000, while the July figure was revised upwards by 6,000 to 79,000.

In June, however, the figure was revised downwards by 27,000 to a loss of 13,000.

"A job gain in health care was partially offset by losses in federal government and in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction," the bureau said.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was up to 4.3% in August from 4.2% in July, matching forecasts.

The number of unemployed people was little changed at 7.4 million in August, while the labor force participation rate was at 62.3%.

The employment-to-population ratio was stable at 59.6% in August, according to the data.

The number of people not in the labor force but currently wanting a job in August was little changed at 6.4 million.

"These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job," it said.

Meanwhile, the average hourly earnings for all employees on non-farm payrolls rose 0.3% to $36.53 in August, compared to July, while it was up by 3.7% on an annual basis.

The non-farm job additions are an important indicator for the Federal Reserve in deciding the monetary policy. A weakening job market would push the central bank to lower the policy rate, which currently stands in the range of 4.25% to 4.5%.

In July, the revised job additions came in well below the market estimates, at 79,000, while the job additions for June and May were revised downwards by a combined figure of 285,000.

President Donald Trump questioned the accuracy of that federal data earlier this month, calling government economic reports "rigged" as he fired then-Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer when data contradicted his narrative.

On the other hand, after Trump replaced the commissioner, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick predicted on Friday that the jobs report would be more accurate, ahead of the data release.

“I think they’ll get better,” Lutnick told CNBC.