US economy adds 162,000 jobs in August
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The U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs in August , soaring past expectations and raising the prospect that the Federal Reserve could hike interest rates next month.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1 percent , according to the data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Economists had expected U.S. employers to add 53,000 jobs last month and the jobless rate to hold steady at 4.1 percent, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The August jobs data marked a sharp reversal from July, which initially showed the economy losing 23,000 jobs .
However, the BLS revised jobs data from the past two months to show employers added 31,000 and 21,000 jobs in June and July, respectively.
Friday’s numbers “may corroborate that recent softness was temporary rather than indicative of a broader deterioration,” Jerry Tempelman, vice president of economic and fixed income research at Mutual of America Capital Management, said in a statement.
The better-than-expected jobs report allows the Fed to focus “squarely on controlling inflation when they meet next in September,” Bill Adams, chief U.S. economist for Fifth Third Commercial Bank, said in a statement.
This is raising the prospect that the Fed could raise rates at its meeting next month.
As of Thursday afternoon, markets saw about a 50 percent chance the central bank maintains rates at their current level and a 50 percent chance it votes for a quarter-point hike, according to CME’s FedWatch tool. By Friday morning, this shifted to about a 60 percent chance of a hike.
Check out a full report at TheHill.com .
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