August 2024 Employment Situation

Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain source. Statistical tables, standard technical appendices, administrative material and attendance rosters are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's historical context and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete document.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 142,000 in August, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in construction and health care.

This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical Note.

Household Survey Data

Both the unemployment rate, at 4.2 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.1 million, changed little in August. These measures are higher than a year earlier, when the jobless rate was 3.8 percent, and the number of unemployed people was 6.3 million. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.0 percent), adult women (3.7 percent), teenagers (14.1 percent), Whites (3.8 percent), Blacks (6.1 percent), Asians (4.1 percent), and Hispanics (5.5 percent) showed little or no change in August. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Among the unemployed, the number of people on temporary layoff declined by 190,000 to 872,000 in August, mostly offsetting an increase in the prior month. The number of permanent job losers was essentially unchanged at 1.7 million in August. (See table A-11.)

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was virtually unchanged at 1.5 million in August. The long-term unemployed accounted for 21.3 percent of all unemployed people. (See table A-12.)

The labor force participation rate remained at 62.7 percent in August and is little changed over the year. The employment-population ratio also was unchanged in August, at 60.0 percent, but is down by 0.4 percentage point over the year. (See table A-1.)

The number of people employed part time for economic reasons was little changed at 4.8 million in August. 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. (See table A-8.)

The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job, at 5.6 million, changed little in August. 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. (See table A-1.)

Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor force, at 1.4 million, was little changed in August. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, changed little at 367,000 in August. (See Summary table A.)

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 142,000 over the month. Employment growth in August was in line with average job growth in recent months but was below the average monthly gain of 202,000 over the prior 12 months. In August, job gains occurred in construction and health care. (See table B-1.)

Construction employment rose by 34,000 in August, higher than the average monthly gain of 19,000 over the prior 12 months. Over the month, heavy and civil engineering construction added 14,000 jobs, and employment in nonresidential specialty trade contractors continued to trend up (+14,000).

Health care added 31,000 jobs in August, about half the average monthly gain of 60,000 over the prior 12 months. In August, employment rose in ambulatory health care services (+24,000) and hospitals (+10,000).

In August, employment in social assistance continued its upward trend (+13,000) but at a slower pace than the average monthly gain over the prior 12 months (+21,000). Individual and family services added 18,000 jobs over the month.

Employment in manufacturing edged down in August (-24,000), reflecting a decline of 25,000 in durable goods industries. Manufacturing employment has shown little net change over the year.

Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation and warehousing; information; financial activities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; other services; and government.

In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 14 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $35.21. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.8 percent. In August, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 11 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $30.27. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours in August. In manufacturing, the average workweek changed little at 40.0 hours, and overtime edged up by 0.1 hour to 3.0 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls remained at 33.7 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for June was revised down by 61,000, from +179,000 to +118,000, and the change for July was revised down by 25,000, from +114,000 to +89,000. With these revisions, employment in June and July combined is 86,000 lower than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors.)