Job market shows strength: 162,000 new jobs in August, exceeding expectations
The U.S. economy kept the overall unemployment rate at 4.1%. Among Hispanic or Latino workers, unemployment rose by 0.2 percentage points compared to July, although it remains below the level recorded a year ago.
Supermarket worker (Image)
The country's labor market showed a stronger-than-expected improvement in August, with the creation of 162,000 new jobs and an overall unemployment rate stable at 4.1%, according to the report released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Against this backdrop, the unemployment rate among Hispanics and Latinos stood at 4.8%, 0.2 percentage points above the 4.6% recorded in July, although the agency itself considers the monthly variation to represent "little change."
The figure also remains below the rate recorded in August 2025, when Hispanic unemployment reached 5.3%, representing a 0.5-point decrease year-over-year.
Employment exceeds expectations
The official report showed that nonfarm payrolls increased by 162,000 jobs in August, well above the monthly average of just 31,000 jobs observed over the previous 12 months.
The overall unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1%, with approximately 7 million unemployed people nationwide.
The job growth was driven primarily by restaurants and beverage establishments, which added 59,000 workers, and by education at the local government level, which added 42,000 jobs. Manufacturing added another 16,000 jobs.
Conversely, the information sector lost 23,000 jobs, with declines in IT infrastructure services, data processing, publishing and media.
Hispanic unemployment still above national average
Seasonally adjusted data show that the unemployment rate for Hispanics remains higher than the national average. In August, it stood at 4.8%, compared to the overall rate of 4.1%.
Recent trends, however, show an improvement compared to the previous year:
- August 2025: 5.3% among Hispanics, compared with 4.3% overall.
- June 2026: 5.2% among Hispanics, compared with 4.2% overall.
- July 2026: 4.6% among Hispanics, compared with 4.1% overall.
- August 2026: 4.8% among Hispanics, compared with 4.1% overall.
The BLS specifically noted in its press release that unemployment rates for adult men, adult women, whites, African Americans and Hispanics showed little change during August.
The agency further clarifies that people identified as Hispanic or Latino may belong to any racial category, so ethnicity and race classifications are not mutually exclusive.
Wages also improving
The average hourly wage for private-sector employees rose by 10 cents in August, to $37.75, a monthly increase of 0.3%. Compared to a year ago, wages rose 3.1%.
In addition, the number of workers employed part-time for economic reasons fell by 414,000 to approximately 4.4 million. These are workers who would prefer full-time employment but cannot find it or have had their hours reduced.
The labor force participation rate rose slightly to 61.6%, though it remains half a percentage point below the level recorded in January.
BLS revises previous months upward
The government also revised the job creation figures upward for June and July.
June's gain was revised from 20,000 to 31,000 jobs, while July was revised from an initial loss of 23,000 jobs to a gain of 21,000. Overall, the revisions added 55,000 jobs to the previous estimates for both months.
The August data thus paints a picture of an American labor market that is keeping overall unemployment low and regaining momentum in job creation, while the Hispanic population has an unemployment rate slightly higher than the national average but significantly lower than that observed a year ago.
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