August US Nonfarm Payrolls Rise Much Less Than Expected, Unemployment Rate Up

08:42 AM EDT, 09/05/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The August employment report showed nonfarm payrolls rose by 22,000, well below the 75,000 jobs increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:30 am ET, while July payrolls saw an upward revision to a 79,000 increase and June payrolls were revised downwards to a 13,000 decrease, for a net downward revision of 21,000 jobs.

Private payrolls increased by 38,000 in August after a 77,000 increase in July, well below the increase of 75,000 private jobs expected. Health care payrolls increased by 46,800 jobs, a smaller gain than in the previous month, and leisure and hospitality jobs increased by 28,000 jobs.

The goods-producing sector shed 25,000 jobs in the month.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in August from 4.2% in July, as expected, while the labor force participation rate rose to 62.3% from 62.2% in the previous month and the size of the labor force expanded on gains in both employment and unemployment.

Hourly earnings rose by 0.3%, as expected following a 0.3% increase in July. Hourly earnings were up 3.7% year-over-year, a slower pace than the 3.9% year-over-year gain in the previous month.

The average workweek remained at 34.2 hours, below the 34.3 hours expected.

The monthly employment report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics consists of two separate surveys and is considered the most important data release for the month. The survey of businesses measures the levels of employment and wages and the length of the average workweek, broken down by industry.

The survey of households measures the number of people working or looking for work, the unemployment rate, those that have left the workforce and reasons for part-time work.

Market reaction can be mixed, particularly when the two surveys disagree. A strong increase in employment or a decline in the unemployment rate is generally a positive for stocks as sign of a strong US economy, but bonds would react negatively to the same news, particularly if wages rise sharply at the same time.

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