released Friday by the Labor Department—marking a significant slowdown from July as experts note the pandemic’s resurgence has started to curtail the economic recovery.August’s job additions were significantly lower than the 720,000 new jobs economists were expecting, according to Bloomberg data, and they represent a significant slowdown from the roughly 930,000 jobs added back in July.
Despite the slowdown, however, the unemployment rate of 5.2% fell from 5.4% in July to its lowest point during the pandemic, but is still well above pre-pandemic levels of less than 4%. There are now 8.4 million unemployed people in the United States, falling slightly since July—by about 300,000—and still markedly higher than 4 million in February 2020, the government said.
According to the report, industries with notable job growth included professional services, transportation, warehousing and manufacturing, while employment in retail trade actually declined over the month.
We blame the virus, but the virus wasn't making legislation.