Hiring up slightly in August, but report suggests a cooling US economy [Video]

The U.S. economy added 142,000 jobs in August, which is up from the 114,000 added jobs in July, which had marked one of the worst months for hiring in recent years, according to new employment data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.2% in August after hitting 4.3% in July, the highest it had been since October 2021. In historical terms, a 4.2% unemployment rate is low, but it comes after a period of near-record-low unemployment. The unemployment rate bottomed at 3.4% in 2023.

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The U.S. has had a solid year of job gains. In the last decade, the U.S. averaged about 166,000 new jobs per month. In the last 12 months, the U.S. has averaged 223,000 new jobs per month, bringing the total number of U.S. non-farm …