August Delivers Another Month of Historic Job Growth

The American economy gained nearly 1.4 million jobs in August, making it the fourth month in a row of over 1 million jobs added.

BRINGING JOBS BACK 

·The American economy gained nearly 1.4 million jobs in August, making it the fourth month in a row of over 1 million jobs added. 

o   249,000 retail, 174,000 leisure and hospitality, and 45,000 manufacturing and constructions jobs were added in August.

·A record 10.6 million jobs have been gained since April, bringing back about 50% of the jobs lost from the lockdowns.

o   The amount of jobs added to the U.S. economy over the past 4 months, has surpassed expectations by a combined 12.2 million jobs.

·Nominal average hourly earnings jumped up 0.4% in August, making a significant 4.7% increase over the past 12 months.

FALLING UNEMPLOYMENT

·The unemployment rate dropped by 1.8 percentage points to 8.4%, beating expectations which only predicted a 0.4 percentage point decrease.

o   The August unemployment rate drop is the second largest decrease on record.

·The unemployment rate fell for African Americans (-1.6 percentage points), Hispanic Americans (-2.4 percentage points), and Asian Americans (-1.3 percentage points).

·In addition, those without a high schools diplomas saw a 2.8 percentage point decrease in unemployment, while the rate for adult women fell by 2.1 percentage points – the second largest drop ever.

SMASHING EXPECTATIONS

·Unlike the previous administration, which led a historically slow recovery, President Trumps’ pro-growth policies are unleashing a great American comeback.

·The recovery continues to trounce the Obama administration’s sluggish recovery.

o   Under Obama, it took nearly 9 years for the unemployment rate to drop 6.3 percentage points, something achieved in just 4 months under President Trump.

o   The unemployment rate has already fallen below the peak unemployment rate from the great recession of 10.0 percent.

·The unemployment rate has fallen to a level that forecasters didn’t expect to reach even by the end of the year.

o   The CBO projected in July that we would end the year with a 10.5 percent unemployment rate.

o   The Federal Reserve predicted the unemployment rate would be 9.3 percent by the end of 2020.

By @RobertoMasiero