Fewer jobs were added to the U.S. economy in August than expected, while unemployment slightly decreased from July, according to the most recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday. 

The data indicates that 142,000 jobs were added last month, about 20,000 less than the 161,000 economists had expected. Unemployment declined from 4.3% in July, the highest since October 2021, to 4.2% in August. 

According to the report, the two largest sectors for growth last month were construction and healthcare, which added 34,000 and 31,000 jobs, respectively. The labor force participation rate is 62.7%, which is about the same as last year. 

“The number of people employed part time for economic reasons was little changed at 4.8 million in August,” the report said. “This measure is up from 4.2 million a year earlier. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has consistently revised job creation numbers downward over the last few months, including drops of 25,000 in July and 61,000 in June. Last month, it revealed that for the year that ran from April 2023 to March 2024, the bureau overestimated the number of jobs created by 818,000. 

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Some economists said the report suggested that the economy is still struggling as fears of a recession prompted global markets to plunge last month. 

Analyzing the report, Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni noted that the economy was losing higher-paying jobs while adding part-time jobs. 

“All of the net job growth in Aug was part-time employment (+527k), while full-time jobs plummeted (-438k); we’re hemorrhaging higher-paying jobs w/ benefits and replacing them with multiple part-time ones – these higher payroll numbers are a sign of impoverishment, not growth,” he said. 

Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of Job Creators Network, said the report “reveals accelerating weakness in the American economy.”

“Job creation was below expectations, and half of new positions were created in the unproductive government or quasi-government healthcare and social services sector,” he added. “A record 8.2 million Americans have second jobs. Prior months’ job creation was significantly revised down – again. So far this year, the number of unemployed Americans has increased by one million.”

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