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August job report: Hiring slows, unemployment rises
The Labor Department said Friday that U.S. employers added 22,000 jobs in August, down from 79,000 in July and far below the 80,000 economists had forecast. The unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, the highest since 2021. Bankrate senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick joined LiveNOW from FOX’s Christina Evans to discuss the report.
LOS ANGELES - Despite the number of available jobs fluctuating from month to month, it seems the number of people who are submitting unemployment claims is steadily increasing in certain states, according to WalletHub data.
By the numbers:
The Labor Department reported that U.S. employers — companies, government agencies and nonprofits — added just 22,000 jobs last month, down from 79,000 in July and well below the 80,000 that economists had expected.
The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3% last month, also worse than expected and the highest since 2021.
Take a look at the states where unemployment claims are increasing the most:
Dig deeper:
The states that saw the biggest increase in unemployment claims were Connecticut, Tennessee, the District of Columbia, and Nebraska.
WalletHub’s data also shows blue states are seeing bigger increases than red states.
What they're saying:
"U.S. labor market deterioration intensified in August,’' Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist at BMO Capital Market, wrote in a commentary, noting that hiring was "slumping dangerously close to stall speed. This raises the risk of a harder landing for consumer spending and the economy in the months ahead.’'
The Source: Information for this article was taken from a WalletHub study using data from the U.S. Department of Labor.