WASHINGTON (AP) – Hiring by America’s employers picked up a bit in August from July’s tepid pace, and the unemployment rate dipped for the first time since March in a sign that the job market may be cooling but remains sturdy.
Employers added a modest 142,000 jobs, up from a scant 89,000 in July, the Labour Department said on Friday.
The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.2 per cent from 4.3 per cent, which had been the highest level in nearly three years. Hiring in June and July, though, was revised sharply down by a combined 86,000. July’s job gain was the smallest since the pandemic. “The labour market is weakening,” said Chief Economist at Raymond James Financial Eugenio Aleman.
“It is not falling apart, but it is weakening.”
The cooling jobs figures underscore why the Federal Reserve (Fed) is set to cut its key interest rate when it next meets September 17-18, with inflation falling steadily back to its target of two per cent.
Still, Friday’s mixed jobs data raises the question of how large a rate cut the Fed will announce. It could decide to reduce its benchmark rate by a typical quarter-point or by a larger half-point.
In the coming months, the policymakers will also decide how much and how fast to cut rates at their subsequent meetings.
