In a robust performance compared with earlier summer figures the U.S. saw an addition of 162,000 new jobs in August, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The figures were the strongest seen since March of this year when new job creation exceeded 214,000 and was substantially larger than July’s 21,000.
Except for March’s figures, the last time the job increase figure was above the 150,000 mark was seen in December of 2024 when it reached 237,000.
Increases were seen in most employment segments, with healthcare seeing a 13,000 increase; food services and drinking places up by a strong 59,000; and local government recording one of the biggest gains of all with 42,000 new jobs.
The construction industry recorded 22,000 new jobs. In that category, nonresidential specialty contractors saw a 7,800-job gain since July, followed by the heavy and civil engineering sector with an increase of 4,400 jobs.
In a statement, Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the total number of new jobs since President Trump began his second term in early 2025 is now more than 1 million. “This year alone,” Sonderling remarked, “the U.S. economy has added 643,000 jobs.”
The new job numbers, reports the Financial Times, “smashed Wall Street expectations,” while indicating that the “labor market retains momentum ahead of a crucial Federal Reserve vote on interest rates this month.”
In a twist on job trends, the think tank Burning Glass Institute is reporting that the job picture for young people without college degrees is at its most promising in 20 years. “Meanwhile,” remarks the New York Post in reporting on the Burning Glass figures, “their diploma-toting peers, especially those with advanced degrees or Science Technology Engineer and Mathematic backgrounds, are stuck in one of their roughest stretches on record.”
Based in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, Burning Glass has additionally noted that a “growing surplus of college graduates, projected to increase by 7 to 11 million by 2034” will only serve to intensify competition for “what may be increasingly scarce professional jobs.”
September 8, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Image courtesy of Pixabay
