The Associated Press
In recent months, a wide array of U.S. industries added jobs. Almost every sector — manufacturing, retail, financial services and information — notched solid gains.
That stopped in August.
Employers added just 142,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday. The seasonally adjusted figure marked a drop-off from the previous 12-month average of 212,000 added jobs.
The unemployment rate dipped to 6.1 percent from 6.2 percent, largely because more people gave up looking for jobs and fewer people started looking for one. The government counts as unemployed only people who say they are actively seeking work.
What caused the August slowdown?
Several industries basically stopped hiring. Factories failed to increase their payrolls at all in August as automakers cut jobs. Retailers shed 8,400 jobs, led primarily by food and beverage stores. Compare that with the previous five months, when retailers added an average of 28,040.
The start of the school year did little to spur hiring of public school employees by state and local governments. Their seasonally adjusted ranks fell slightly. The information and financial sectors also lost momentum from the prior two months.
Among the bright spots was construction, which added 20,000 employees, about half them specialty contractors for housing. Restaurants, temporary worker agencies, services firms and the education and health sector accounted for more than 74 percent of jobs added last month.
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