The net change in total non-farm payrolls in August is -54k
This was expected to be -105k.
The net change in private sector non-farm payrolls is +67k
This was expected to be +40k.
The Unemployment Rate is 9.6%
This was expected to be up one tenth on the month to 9.6%.
The Average Hourly Wages is +0.3% on a month on month basis.
This was expected to be +0.1%.
The jobs report was better than forecast. Total non-farm payrolls were down 54k on the month but that was only half the expected decline and the Private sector rose 67k, better than the +40 estimate. Additionally the two previous months saw payrolls revised higher by 123k.
The Manufacturing sector was the weakest at -27k, and Trade/Transport, Retail and Financial all had single digit losses. But the Service sector added 67k, led by Education/Health which was up 45k.
Overall Government jobs were down 121k, with 114k of those being the temporary census workers finishing their stint. State and Local governments lost 10k.
The Unemployment Rate moved one tenth higher to 9.6% as was forecast. The Household survey shows the number of employed rose 290k, the first gain since April, and the number of unemployed was up 260k. Positive signs were the Civilian Labor Force growing 550k and the Not in Labor Force moving down by 341k.
The U6 Unemployment rate was up two tenths to 16.7%. But the average duration for unemployment fell six tenths to 33.6 weeks. Importantly the average hourly wages were up 0.3% on the month, but the year on year rate fell one tenth to 1.7%. The work week was unchanged at 34.2 hours and the Aggregate Hours Index was steady at 92.4.