“It has been a great experience. Very professional and I was kept abreast of my duties and responsibilities. Also, I enjoyed my job. It too has been rewarding.”

-M. Simmons

Today’s jobs report showed the economy added 235,000 jobs in August, an average gain of 750,000 over the last three months. While the number of jobs added in August came in below market expectations, in large part likely reflecting a resurgence of COVID, the three-month average remains strong. Job gains in June and July were revised up by a combined 134,000. In addition, the unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage point to 5.2 percent as labor force participation held steady and the employment rate reached a new pandemic-era high. This is the lowest the unemployment rate has been since the pandemic began.

It is important to focus on the trend of data across multiple months, since any one month of data could be volatile. This report is also a reminder that the economic recovery will not be complete until the public health situation is under control, as reinforced by the rise of COVID cases associated with the Delta variant.

Click here to read more about the August Job Market report.