Professional, Business Services Lead August Payroll Gains

Employers added 315,000 jobs last month, with the strongest gains in professional and business services, which added 68,000 jobs, led by computer systems design and related services, up 14,000.

Overall, 5.8 million jobs were added to the U.S. economy over the past 12 months. Last month, jobs grew 526,000, which kicked levels to February 2020, one month before COVID gripped the U.S., according to the monthly employment situation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday (Sept. 2). The unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent.

Over the past 12 months, professional and business services added 1.1 million jobs. Management and technical consulting services added 13,000, architectural and engineering services added 10,000, while legal services lost 9,000.

Other notable job gains were in health care, with a total of 48,000 jobs added, with 15,000 positions added in doctors’ offices and 15,000 in hospitals. The sector added 412,000 over the past 12 months but is below February 2020 by 37,000.

See also: Surging Jobs Data Heightens SMB Balancing Act Between Wages, Automation

Retail trade also saw gains, with 44,000 new jobs in August and 422,000 jobs over the past 12 months. General merchandise stores and food and beverage stores saw the biggest gains, with 15,000 new positions added per category. Employment in furniture and home furnishings stores continued to trend down, with 3,000 jobs lost.

Employment in financial activities rose by 17,000 in August and by 200,000 over the year. Employment in wholesale trade increased by 15,000 in August, returning to its February 2020 level, and adding 197,000 jobs over the year.

Manufacturing employment is continuing to trend up, with 22,000 new positions added, with gains concentrated in durable goods industries. Manufacturing is up 461,000 jobs over the year, according to the report.

Read more: US Adds 528K Jobs, Exceeds Expectations

Employment in leisure and hospitality changed little in August, up 31,000, following average monthly gains of 90,000 in the first 7 months of the year.

Average hourly earnings of nonproduction and supervisory employees went up by 10 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $32.36 in August, with the average over the past 12 months increased by 5.2 percent. Average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 10 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $27.68.