US unemployment rate falls

Washington: The US economy added 1.4 million jobs in August and the unemployment rate fell to 8.4 percent, the Labor Department said on Friday, a sign of the continuing recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The drop in the unemployment rate from 10.2 percent in July was much more than expected.

The report said August’s jobs gains reflected temporary hiring for the US census, as well as a rebound in hiring in retail, professional and business services and the hard-hit leisure and hospitality sector.

Businesses last month continued to rehire some of the workers they shed during the pandemic, albeit at a weaker pace than in July.

Even with those gains, which were buoyed by temporary government hiring for the 2020 census, the US has recovered slightly less than half the jobs lost at the start of the coronavirus crisis.

The figures showed an encouraging drop in the unemployment rate to 8.4 percent, putting it well below the 10 percent seen in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

The report also showed the labour force had increased by 968,000, reversing a small decline in July, meaning more Americans were working or seeking work. The labour force participation rate jumped from 61.4 to 61.7 per cent last month.