Temp Help services adds 10,000 jobs.                                  

A total of 201,000 nonfarm jobs were added to the US economy in August, per the seasonally adjusted data released Friday by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Unemployment remained at 3.9%.

The sectors most contributing to total nonfarm employment this month were Professional Services (excl temp help, +43,000), Healthcare & Social Assistance (+40,700) and Construction (+23,000). Four of the fifteen tracked industry sectors posted declines, including Information (-6,000), Retail Trade (-5,900), Government (-3,000), and Manufacturing (-3,000).

Temporary help services employment increased by 0.3% in August with the addition of 10,000 jobs. Year-on-year temporary help employment was up 2.9%, with monthly job gains averaging 7,100 for the past 12 months. Revisions to the temporary help services sector for June, from -7,500 to -6,500, and for July, from +27,900 to +10,900, decreased previously reported gains by 16,000 jobs. The temporary penetration rate was unchanged at 2.04%.

“Overall, August was a steady month for employment in the US. The unemployment rate remained at 3.9%, with a 0.4% wage increase as companies look to attract the talent need in a tightening market,” said Barry Asin, President of Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA). “A shift from lower wage to higher wage jobs and industries may be in the offing as companies face challenges in finding workers to meet the demands of an economy expected to remain strong into 2019.”

SIA’s complete September Jobs Report analysis is available here.

Source: Staffing Industry Analysts