The jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), released Sept. 5, highlights a continued slowdown in hiring, raising new questions about the strength of the U.S. economy.
The report states that just 22,000 jobs were added to the economy in August. CNN reports that this number is far below economists’ expectations of roughly 76,500 new jobs. The unemployment rate also went up to 4.3%, from 4.2% in July. While still relatively low, this is the highest jobless rate since October 2021, per CNN.
“After years of resilience, the U.S. job market looks increasingly fragile, especially after the latest numbers,” said CNN’s Matt Egan.
Revisions to numbers from prior months reveal a weaker jobs trend than initially reported. According to Egan, June’s numbers shifted dramatically downward, from an initially reported gain of 14,000 to a loss of 13,000, marking the first monthly decline since December 2020.
“That breaks nearly five years of uninterrupted job growth in the U.S. economy,” Egan noted. “That’s the second-longest stretch in U.S. history.”
As he emphasized, “Revisions are normal. As the BLS gets new survey responses from the businesses they talk to, they update their numbers — just like a meteorologist updates a hurricane forecast when they get new data. Unfortunately, these updates have mostly been coming into the down side, and again showing that hiring has really stalled out.”
Looking closer at different sectors, the picture is mixed. Eagan reported that, in August, construction lost about 6,000 jobs, manufacturing fell by 12,000, and mining and logging also shed positions. Manufacturing has now posted four consecutive months of job losses, despite policy efforts aimed at supporting the sector.
Meanwhile, healthcare and social assistance companies — from hospitals to daycare centers — added nearly 47,000 jobs in August, accounting for 87% of private-sector jobs created so far in 2025, the Associated Press reports.
The weak job report is already shaping expectations for the Federal Reserve. Egan noted that investors expect that the slowdown in hiring may increase the likelihood of an interest rate cut in September.
“This report probably seals the deal on an interest rate cut later this month,” he said.
“Wall Street was already thinking it was basically a slam dunk, and I think this latest weakness — including the fact that the unemployment rate is up to a nearly four-year high — I think that’s probably going to seal the deal on a rate cut from the Fed, which is obviously something the White House has been calling for. Of course they wanted a cut because of low inflation… the reason would be because of low hiring,” Egan continued.
According to the BLS, the next U.S. jobs report, covering September 2025, is scheduled for release on Oct. 3.
