U.S. Adds 162,000 Jobs in August as Unemployment Holds at 4.1 Percent

September 4, 2026 – Employment increased by 162,000 in August as the U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1 percent, according to the most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report. The number of unemployed people, at 7.0 million, changed little in August.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for people who are Asian declined to 3.2 percent in August. The rate for teenagers edged up to 14.1 percent over the month, mostly offsetting a decline in the prior month. The jobless rates for adult men (4.0 percent), adult women (3.5 percent), and people who are White (3.7 percent), Black (6.0 percent), or Hispanic (4.8 percent) showed little change in August.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) changed little at 1.9 million in August. The long-term unemployed accounted for 27.0 percent of all unemployed people. The labor force participation rate edged up to 61.6 percent in August but is down by 0.5 percentage point since January. The employment-population ratio, at 59.1 percent, changed little over the month and since January.

The number of people employed part time for economic reasons decreased by 414,000 to 4.4 million in August. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.

In August, the number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job changed little at 5.7 million. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job.

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Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor force changed little at 1.7 million in August. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked for work in the four weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, changed little in August at 441,000.

Where Job Growth Occurred

• Employment in food services and drinking places increased by 59,000 in August, well above the average monthly gain of 12,000 over the prior 12 months.
• Local government education added 42,000 jobs in August, largely offsetting a decrease in the prior month. Local government education has shown little net change since January 2025.
• In August, employment in manufacturing continued its upward trend (+16,000) and is up by 58,000 since a recent low in December 2025. Employment in machinery manufacturing (+6,000) and in fabricated metal product manufacturing (+6,000) continued trending up in August.
• Employment in health care continued to trend up in August (+13,000) but at a slower pace than the average monthly gain over the prior 12 months (+32,000). Over the month, home healthcare services (+11,000) and hospitals (+8,000) added jobs.
• Information employment declined by 23,000 in August, following losses that had averaged 8,000 per month over the prior 12 months. In August, job losses occurred in computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting, and related services (-8,000), in publishing industries (-7,000), and in broadcasting and content providers (-5,000).
• Construction employment changed little in August (+22,000). Employment in nonresidential specialty trade contractors continued to trend up (+8,000), similar to the average monthly gain over the prior 12 months (+6,000).
• Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation and warehousing; financial activities; professional and business services; social assistance; and other services.

“The labor market is in a fragile state,” said Nicole Bachaud, economist at ZipRecruiter. “Both employers and workers are showing increased sensitivity to inflation, interest rates, and geopolitical tensions.”

Mike Fratantoni, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association, pointed to continued stability despite restrained hiring. “We remain in a low-hire/low-fire job market, but overall, this report confirms that the job market is resilient,” he said.

Laura Ullrich, director of economic research at Indeed Hiring Lab, said the labor market continues to feel very different depending on whether someone is already employed or actively looking for work. “If you are already employed, this labor market still feels stable, and today’s report likely reads very positive,” she said. “But if you are looking for work…” the conditions remain more challenging.

Daniel Zhao, chief economist at Glassdoor, cautioned against reading too much into a single month. “The data has swung hard from month to month, and revisions keep rewriting what we thought we knew,” he said, pointing to the difficulty in identifying a clear underlying trend.

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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media