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The August payroll gain was the strongest in five months and well above Wall Street forecasts of 53,000 new jobs
A sign at a NYS Department Of Labor job fair at the Downtown Central Library in Buffalo, New York, US, on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (Lauren Petracca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, far exceeding expectations and marking the strongest monthly gain since March. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1 percent, with total unemployed persons standing at 7.0 million.
Economists had forecast a gain of 53,000 jobs, according to CNBC and The Wall Street Journal, both citing surveys of economists.
