Unemployment in the US rose significantly in August. The unemployment rate rose from 3.5 percent to 3.8 percent, as announced by the US Department of Labor in Washington. It’s the highest rate in a year and a half. The number of unemployed rose by a good half a million to 6.4 million.
US President Joe Biden nevertheless defended the work of his government on Friday. “Since I’ve been in office, a total of 13.5 million jobs have been added, about 800,000 of them in manufacturing,” said Biden in the garden of the White House in Washington. “We have created more jobs in two years than any other president in four years of office.” Job losses from the pandemic have offset, real wages have risen and inflation has fallen, Biden said.
More new jobs than expected
At the same time, US companies created slightly more jobs than expected. Outside of agriculture, 187,000 jobs were added in August. However, the increase in employment in the two previous months was revised downwards by a total of 110,000 jobs.
The rise in wages slowed down. According to ministry information, average hourly wages increased by 0.2 percent in August compared to the previous month. In July, the increase was 0.4 percent. In a year-on-year comparison, wage growth fell from 4.4 to 4.3 percent.
Labor market important for Fed interest rate policy
The job market had been largely robust until recently. Many companies complain about a labor shortage. The labor market is also important for the interest rate policy of the US Federal Reserve.
Sentiment in US industry brightened more than expected in August. The ISM purchasing managers’ index rose by 1.2 points to 47.6 points compared to the previous month, as the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) announced on Friday in Tempe. Analysts had expected an increase to 47.0 points on average. However, the indicator is still below the 50-point threshold, signaling a shrinking industry for ten consecutive months
