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Economy Gains 315,000 Jobs in August; Unemployment Inches Up to 3.7%

The U.S. economy gained 315,000 jobs in August, and the unemployment rate edged up to 3.7%, according to figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Continuing strong job creation numbers are a clear sign that the worker-friendly policies implemented by President Biden are having a positive impact on working people.

In response to the August job numbers, AFL-CIO Chief Economist William Spriggs tweeted the following:

Last month’s biggest job gains were in professional and business services (+68,000), health care  (+48,000), retail trade (+44,000), leisure and hospitality (+31,000), manufacturing (+22,000), financial activities (+17,000), wholesale trade (+15,000) and mining (+6,000). Employment showed little change in other major industries, including construction, transportation and warehousing, information, other services and government.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for rose for Hispanics (4.5%) and adult men (3.5%) in August. The jobless rates for teenagers (10.4%), Black Americans (6.4%), adult women (3.3%), White Americans (3.2%) and Asian Americans (2.8%) showed little change over the month.

The number of long-term unemployed workers (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed in August and accounted for 18.8% of the total unemployed.