The recent employment data indicates that the labor market is cooling gradually due to rising interest rates. Total employment increased by 187,000 and the unemployment rate rose to 3.8% from 3.5%. Wage growth slowed. In August, wages grew at a 4.3% year-over-year growth rate, down 1.1 percentage points from a 5.4% gain in August 2022. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced the preliminary estimate of the annual benchmark revision, indicating March 2023 total nonfarm employment was revised down by 306,000 jobs, a 0.2% decrease from the previous release. Construction was revised up by 30,000 jobs, and manufacturing revised down by 43,000 jobs. The final revision will be issued in February 2024 with the publication of the January 2024 Employment Situation news release. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 187,000 in August, following a gain of 157,000 in July, as reported in the Employment Situation Summary. The estimates for the previous two months were revised down. The estimate for June was revised lower by 80,000 from +185,000 to +105,000, while the July increase was revised down by 30,000, from +187,000 to +157,000. Despite restrictive monetary policy, nearly 5.4 million jobs have been created since March 2022, when the Fed enacted the first interest rate hike of this cycle. In the first eight months of 2023, nearly 1.9 million jobs were created, and monthly employment growth averaged 236,000 per month, following the average monthly growth of 399,000 in 2022. The unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points to 3.8% in August. The number of unemployed persons increased by 514,000 to nearly 6.4 million, while the number of employed persons increased by 222,000. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate, the proportion of the population either looking for a job or already holding a job, rose 0.2 percentage points to 62.8%. Moreover, the labor force participation rate for people who aged between 25 and 54 edged up 0.1 percentage point to 83.5%. While the overall labor force participation rate is still below its pre-pandemic levels at the beginning of 2020, the rate for people who aged between 25 and 54 exceeds the pre-pandemic level of 83.1%. For industry sectors, employment in health care (+71,000), leisure and hospitality (+40,000), social assistance (+26,000), and construction (+22,000) continued to trend up in August, while transportation and warehousing lost 34,000 jobs. Employment in the overall construction sector increased by 22,000 in August, following a 16,000 gain in July. While residential construction added 1,400 jobs, non-residential construction employment gained 21,000 jobs. Residential construction employment now stands at 3.3 million in August, broken down as 925,000 builders and 2.4 million residential specialty trade contractors. The 6-month moving average of job gains for residential construction was 3,500 a month. Over the last 12 months, home builders and remodelers added 42,400 jobs on a net basis. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,293,500 positions. In August, the unemployment rate for construction workers rose by 0.4 percentage points to 4.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unemployment rate for construction workers remained at a relatively lower level, after reaching 14.2% in April 2020, due to the housing demand impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Related ‹ 2022 Single-Family Starts by Census DivisionTags: employment, labor force, labor force participation rate, residential construction employment, wage

The past two months’ job gains indicate that the job market is cooling from its peak last year and is growing at a moderate pace. Total employment increased by 187,000 and the unemployment rate inched down to 3.5% in July. Wages grew at a 4.4% year-over-year growth rate, down 1.1 percentage points from a 5.4% gain in July 2022. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 187,000 in July, following a gain of 185,000 in June, as reported in the Employment Situation Summary. The estimates for the previous two months were revised down. The estimate for May was revised lower by 25,000 from +306,000 to +281,000, while the June increase was revised down by 24,000, from +209,000 to +185,000. Despite restrictive monetary policy, nearly 5.3 million jobs have been created since March 2022, when the Fed enacted the first interest rate hike of this cycle. In the first seven months of 2023, about 1.8 million jobs were created, and monthly employment growth averaged 258,000 per month, following average monthly growth of 399,000 in 2022. The unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 3.5% in July. The number of unemployed persons decreased by 116,000, while the number of employed persons increased by 268,000. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate, the proportion of the population either looking for a job or already holding a job, was unchanged at 62.6% for the fifth consecutive month. Moreover, the labor force participation rate for people who aged between 25 and 54 edged down 0.1 percentage point to 83.4%. While the overall labor force participation rate is still below its pre-pandemic levels at the beginning of 2020, the rate for people who aged between 25 and 54 exceeds the pre-pandemic level of 83.1%. For industry sectors, employment in health care (+63,000), social assistance (+24,000), and construction (+19,000) continued to trend up in July. Employment in the overall construction sector increased by 19,000 in July, following a 26,000 gain in June. While residential construction added 7,800 jobs, non-residential construction employment gained 10,600 jobs in July. Residential construction employment now stands at 3.3 million in July, broken down as 925,000 builders and 2.4 million residential specialty trade contractors. The 6-month moving average of job gains for residential construction was 5,850 a month. Over the last 12 months, home builders and remodelers added 58,400 jobs on a net basis. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,304,700 positions. In July, the unemployment rate for construction workers rose by 0.9 percentage points to 4.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unemployment rate for construction workers remained at a relatively lower level, after reaching 14.2% in April 2020, due to the housing demand impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Related ‹ Lending Standards Tighten Further as Banks Expect More to ComeTags: employment, labor force, labor force participation rate, residential construction employment, wage

Job gains slowed in June, but the labor market remained solid. Total payroll employment rose by 209,000 and the unemployment rate decreased to 3.6%. In June, wages grew at a 4.4% year-over-year growth rate, down 1.1 percentage points from a 5.5% gain in May 2022. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 209,000 in June, following a gain of 306,000 in May, as reported in the Employment Situation Summary. The estimates for the previous two months were revised down. The estimate for April was revised down by 77,000 from +294,000 to +217,000, while the May increase was revised down by 33,000, from +339,000 to +306,000. Despite tight monetary policy, nearly 5.2 million jobs have been created since March 2022, when the Fed enacted the first interest rate hike. In the first six months of 2023, nearly 1.7 million jobs were created, and monthly employment growth averaged 278,000 per month. The unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage point to 3.6% in June. The number of unemployed persons decreased by 140,000, while the number of employed persons increased by 273,000. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate, the proportion of the population either looking for a job or already holding a job, was unchanged at 62.6% in June. Moreover, the labor force participation rate for people who aged between 25 and 54 rose to 83.5%. While the overall labor force participation rate is still below its pre-pandemic levels at the beginning of 2020, the rate for people who aged between 25 and 54 exceeds the pre-pandemic level of 83.1%. For industry sectors, employment in government (+60,000), health care (+41,000), social assistance (+24,000), and construction (+23,000) continued to trend up in June. Employment in the overall construction sector increased by 23,000 in June, the same gain as in May. While residential construction added 10,800 jobs, non-residential construction employment gained 12,200 jobs in June. Residential construction employment now stands at 3.3 million in June, broken down as 929,000 builders and 2.3 million residential specialty trade contractors. The 6-month moving average of job gains for residential construction was 2,117 a month. Over the last 12 months, home builders and remodelers have added 52,400 jobs on a net basis. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,289,400 positions. In June, the unemployment rate for construction workers decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 3.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unemployment rate for construction workers has been trending lower, after reaching 14.2% in April 2020, due to the housing demand impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Related ‹ Residential Building Workers’ Wage Growth Trending DownTags: employment, labor force, labor force participation rate, residential construction employment, wage