WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added 168,000 jobs last month, a solid pace that suggests the labor market is cooling gradually rather than sharply, the Labor Department reported on Friday. The unemployment rate held at 4.2 percent.
The figure came in slightly above the roughly 150,000 jobs economists had expected. Revisions to the previous two months subtracted a combined 21,000 jobs, leaving the three-month average at about 152,000, down from more than 200,000 at the start of the year.
Where the jobs were
Health care continued to lead, adding 54,000 positions as hospitals, clinics and home health agencies kept hiring to meet demand from an aging population. Construction added 26,000 jobs, helped by work on infrastructure projects and factories. Restaurants and hotels added 31,000. Manufacturing lost about 6,000 jobs, and employment in retail was roughly flat. Federal, state and local governments together added 18,000.
- 168,000 jobs added last month
- 4.2 percent unemployment rate, unchanged
- 3.7 percent annual wage growth, down from 3.9 percent
- 62.6 percent labor force participation rate
Wages cool, which may please the Fed
Average hourly earnings rose 0.2 percent from the previous month and 3.7 percent from a year earlier, the slowest annual pace in more than three years. Economists said that is still faster than inflation, meaning workers’ paychecks are gaining purchasing power, but slow enough to ease concerns that rising labor costs could keep prices high.
This is close to a Goldilocks report. Hiring is still healthy, wages are growing faster than prices, and nothing here suggests the economy is overheating.
Melissa Ortega, chief U.S. economist, Crestmark Advisors
Other economists saw signs of softness beneath the headline. The number of people working part time because they could not find full-time work rose by about 120,000, and the average workweek dipped slightly. Job openings have also declined over the past year, and laid-off workers are taking longer to find new positions.
“The labor market is not falling apart, but it is clearly less tight than it was,” said Aaron Fitzgerald, an economist at Lakeview University. “If you lose your job today, it takes a little longer to land the next one than it did a year ago.”
The report is one of the last major pieces of data the Federal Reserve will see before its next policy meeting. Steady hiring with cooling wages could support the case for holding rates where they are for now, while keeping the door open to a cut early next year if inflation keeps easing. Financial markets reacted calmly. Stock futures rose modestly after the release, and Treasury yields were little changed.
For job seekers, the picture varies by field. Recruiters say demand remains strong for nurses, electricians, welders and truck drivers, while openings in technology and corporate offices have thinned. “If you have a trade or clinical skills, you have options,” said Jenna Holloway, who runs a staffing firm in Phoenix. “White-collar candidates are seeing a slower process and more interviews per offer.”
The next monthly jobs report is scheduled for release on the first Friday of next month. Economists will also watch weekly claims for unemployment benefits, which have edged up in recent weeks but remain low by historical standards. A sustained rise in those claims would be one of the earliest signs that employers are moving from slower hiring to actual layoffs, a shift that so far has not appeared in the data.
Some regions are faring better than others. States in the Southeast and Mountain West continued to post faster job growth than the national average, helped by population gains and new factory construction, while hiring was slower in parts of the Northeast and upper Midwest.
