Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 162,000 in August and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
The August payroll gain was well above the average monthly increase of 31,000 over the prior 12 months. The number of unemployed people was little changed at 7.0 million, according to the release, and both the rate and the level changed little over the year.
The two headline figures come from separate surveys. The establishment survey, which collects payroll records from about 119,000 businesses and government agencies covering roughly 622,000 worksites, produces the payroll count. The household survey, a sample of about 60,000 eligible households, produces the unemployment rate.
Where the jobs were added
Employment in food services and drinking places increased by 59,000, compared with an average monthly gain of 12,000 over the prior 12 months. Local government education added 42,000 jobs, which BLS said largely offset a decrease in the prior month; the agency said the industry has shown little net change since January 2025.
Manufacturing employment rose by 16,000 and is up 58,000 since a recent low in December 2025, according to the release. Machinery manufacturing and fabricated metal product manufacturing each added 6,000 jobs.
Health care added 13,000 jobs, a slower pace than the prior 12-month average of 32,000. Within the industry, home health care services added 11,000 and hospitals added 8,000.
Construction employment changed little, up 22,000, with nonresidential specialty trade contractors up 8,000.
BLS said employment showed little change in 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.
Information industry declines
Information employment fell by 23,000 in August, following losses that had averaged 8,000 per month over the prior 12 months. The declines were concentrated in computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting, and related services (-8,000); publishing industries (-7,000); and broadcasting and content providers (-5,000).
Household survey details
The labor force participation rate — the labor force as a percentage of the civilian noninstitutional population — edged up to 61.6 percent but is down by 0.5 percentage point since January. The employment-population ratio was 59.1 percent, little changed over the month and since January.
Among major worker groups, the unemployment rate for people who are Asian declined to 3.2 percent. The teenage rate edged up to 14.1 percent, which BLS said mostly offset a decline in the prior month. Rates for adult men (4.0 percent), adult women (3.5 percent), White workers (3.7 percent), Black workers (6.0 percent) and Hispanic workers (4.8 percent) showed little change.
The number of long-term unemployed — those jobless for 27 weeks or more — was little changed at 1.9 million, or 27.0 percent of all unemployed people.
The number of people employed part time for economic reasons fell by 414,000 to 4.4 million. These are workers who would have preferred full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they could not find full-time jobs.
People not in the labor force who currently want a job numbered 5.7 million, little changed. Within that group, 1.7 million were marginally attached to the labor force — they wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job in the prior 12 months but not in the four weeks before the survey. Discouraged workers, a subset who believed no jobs were available for them, numbered 441,000.
Earnings and hours
Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 10 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $37.75. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.1 percent. For production and nonsupervisory employees, average hourly earnings rose 11 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $32.53.
The average workweek for all private employees edged up 0.1 hour to 34.4 hours. In manufacturing, the average workweek edged up 0.1 hour to 40.5 hours, and overtime was unchanged at 3.1 hours. The workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees remained at 33.8 hours.
Revisions
BLS revised the June payroll change up by 11,000, to a gain of 31,000 from a previously reported gain of 20,000. July was revised up by 44,000, to a gain of 21,000 from a previously reported loss of 23,000. Combined, employment in the two months is 55,000 higher than previously reported.
The agency said monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors. Estimates for the two most recent months are labeled preliminary.
Margin of error
BLS states that an over-the-month employment change of about 122,000 is statistically significant in the establishment survey, while the threshold in the household survey is about 650,000. The 90-percent confidence interval for the monthly change in total nonfarm employment is on the order of plus or minus 122,000.
The Employment Situation for September 2026 is scheduled for release on Friday, October 2, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The Employment Situation ” 2026. Establishment survey estimates for the two most recent months are preliminary and are revised twice as additional sample reports are received and seasonal factors are recalculated; data have been revised to reflect March 2025 benchmark levels and updated seasonal adjustment factors. Both surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error.