The United States added more jobs than expected in August, a sign of resilience for the labor market despite pressure from interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
The NFP data rose by 187,000 positions for the month, higher than the Dow Jones estimate of 170,000, as reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.
However, the unemployment rate was 3.8%, up significantly from July and the highest since February 2022. This increase occurred while the labor market participation rate rose to 62.8%, the highest since February 2020, before the declaration of the Covid pandemic.
Average hourly earnings increased by 0.2% for the month and 4.3% from a year ago. Both were below estimates of 0.3% and 4.4% respectively.
Stock market futures related to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 172 points or 0.5%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.6%, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.6%.
In summary, the latest report on US non-farm payrolls showed the unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.8% in August, reaching its highest level in more than a year. Even so, employment grew at a faster-than-expected pace last month, with the addition of 187,000 jobs.
Bond yields fell after the report was released, as investors appeared to bet that the new data could prevent the Fed from raising interest rates further. The 2-year bond yield fell 7 basis points to 4.79%, and the benchmark 10-year yield fell 2 basis points to 4.075%.
The US dollar index, which measures the US dollar against six major currencies, traded lower after the report was released at a trading level of 103,290.
