Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until 

8:30 a.m. (ET) Friday, September 3, 2021. 

Statement of

William W. Beach

Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, September 3, 2021

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 235,000 in August, and 

the unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 5.2 

percent. So far this year, monthly job growth has averaged 

586,000. In August, notable job gains occurred in professional 

and business services, transportation and warehousing, private 

education, manufacturing, and other services. Employment in 

retail trade declined. 

Reflecting the initial impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) 

pandemic on the labor market, job losses totaled 22.4 million 

during the February-April 2020 recession. Nonfarm payroll 

employment has increased by 17.0 million since April 2020 but is 

down by 5.3 million, or 3.5 percent, from its pre-pandemic level 

in February 2020. 

Employment in professional and business services rose by 

74,000 in August. Job gains occurred in architectural and 

engineering services (+19,000), computer systems design and 
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related services (+10,000), scientific research and development 

services (+7,000), and office administrative services (+6,000). 

Employment in professional and business services is down by 

468,000 since February 2020, over half of which is in temporary 

help services (-262,000). 

Transportation and warehousing added 53,000 jobs in August,

bringing employment in the industry slightly above (+22,000) its

February 2020 level. Employment gains have been led by strong 

growth in couriers and messengers and in warehousing and 

storage, which added 20,000 jobs each in August. Employment in 

air transportation increased by 11,000 over the month. Transit 

and ground passenger transportation--which includes school 

buses--lost 8,000 jobs. 

In August, employment in private education increased by 

40,000, while state government education lost 21,000 jobs, and 

employment in local government education changed little 

(-6,000). All three education industries showed employment gains 

in June and July. August marks the beginning of the traditional 

back-to-school season. However, recent employment changes are 

challenging to interpret, as pandemic-related staffing 

fluctuations in public and private education have distorted the 

normal seasonal hiring and layoff patterns. Since February 2020, 

employment is down by 159,000 in private education, by 186,000 
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in state government education, and by 220,000 in local 

government education. 

Manufacturing added 37,000 jobs in August, with gains in 

motor vehicles and parts (+24,000) and fabricated metal products 

(+7,000). Employment in manufacturing is 378,000 lower than in 

February 2020.

In August, employment in the other services industry 

increased by 37,000, with growth occurring in personal and 

laundry services (+19,000) and in repair and maintenance 

(+9,000). Since February 2020, employment in other services is 

down by 189,000.

Employment in information rose by 17,000 in August, with 

data processing, hosting, and related services (+12,000) 

accounting for more than two-thirds of the gain. Employment in 

information is 150,000 lower than in February 2020.

Financial activities added 16,000 jobs in August, led by a 

gain in real estate (+11,000). Employment in financial 

activities is down by 29,000 since February 2020.

Mining employment rose by 6,000 in August, reflecting a 

gain in support activities for mining (+4,000). Mining has added 

55,000 jobs since a trough in August 2020, but employment is 

96,000 lower than a peak in January 2019.

Employment in retail trade declined by 29,000 in August, 

with job losses in food and beverage stores (-23,000) and in 
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building material and garden supply stores (-13,000). Since 

February 2020, employment in retail trade is down by 285,000.

Employment in leisure and hospitality was unchanged in 

August. This industry had added 2.1 million jobs from January

2021 through July, accounting for half of total nonfarm

employment growth over the period. In August, a decline of 

42,000 in food services and drinking places offset a job gain in 

arts, entertainment, and recreation (+36,000). Employment in 

leisure and hospitality is 1.7 million, or 10.0 percent, lower 

than in February 2020.

Employment in other major industries--including 

construction, wholesale trade, and health care--showed little 

change over the month.

In August, the average workweek for all private-sector 

workers remained unchanged at 34.7 hours. The average workweek 

for manufacturing decreased by 0.2 hour to 40.3 hours.

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls increased by 17 cents to $30.73 in August, following 

increases in the prior 4 months. The data for recent months 

suggest that rising demand for labor associated with the 

recovery from the pandemic may have put upward pressure on 

wages. However, because average hourly earnings vary widely 

across industries, the large employment fluctuations since 
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February 2020 complicate the analysis of trends in average 

hourly earnings. 

Turning to the labor market indicators from the household 

survey, the unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point 

to 5.2 percent in August. The number of unemployed people edged 

down to 8.4 million. These measures have fallen from their April 

2020 peaks but remain above their February 2020 levels (3.5 

percent and 5.7 million, respectively).

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates 

decreased in August for adult men (5.1 percent) and Whites (4.5 

percent). The jobless rate for teenagers increased to 11.2 

percent. The unemployment rates for adult women (4.8 percent), 

Blacks (8.8 percent), Asians (4.6 percent), and Hispanics (6.4 

percent) showed little change over the month.

Among the unemployed, the number of permanent job losers 

declined by 443,000 to 2.5 million in August but is 1.2 million 

higher than in February 2020. The number of people on temporary 

layoff, at 1.3 million, was essentially unchanged in August. 

This measure is down considerably from a high of 18.0 million in 

April 2020 but is 502,000 higher than in February 2020. The 

number of reentrants to the labor force increased by 200,000 to 

2.5 million in August.

The number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or more (often 

referred to as the long-term unemployed) decreased by 246,000 in 
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August to 3.2 million. This measure is up by 2.1 million since 

February 2020. In August, the long-term unemployed accounted for 

37.4 percent of the unemployed. The number of people unemployed 

for less than 5 weeks, at 2.1 million, was little changed in 

August. 

The labor force participation rate, at 61.7 percent, was 

unchanged in August and has remained within a narrow range of 

61.4 percent to 61.7 percent since June 2020. This measure is 

1.6 percentage points lower than in February 2020. The 

employment-population ratio, at 58.5 percent, changed little in 

August but is 2.6 percentage points lower than in February 2020.

In August, 4.5 million people were working part time for 

economic reasons, essentially unchanged from the previous month. 

The number of people working part time for economic reasons is 

down from a peak of 10.9 million in April 2020. There were 4.4 

million people affected by this type of underemployment in 

February 2020.

The number of people not in the labor force who currently 

want a job decreased by 835,000 to 5.7 million in August. This 

measure is down from a peak of 9.9 million in April 2020 but 

remains higher than the February 2020 level (5.0 million). Among 

those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of 

people marginally attached to the labor force decreased by 

295,000 to 1.6 million in August. (People who are marginally 
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attached to the labor force had not actively looked for work in 

the 4 weeks prior to the survey but wanted a job, were available 

for work, and had looked for a job within the last 12 months.) 

The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally 

attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, 

declined by 115,000 in August to 392,000. 

As in previous months, some workers affected by the 

pandemic who should have been classified as unemployed on 

temporary layoff in August were instead misclassified as 

employed but not at work. Since March 2020, BLS has published an 

estimate of what the unemployment rate would have been had 

misclassified workers been included among the unemployed. 

Repeating this same approach, the seasonally adjusted August 

unemployment rate would have been 0.3 percentage point higher

than reported. Additional information about the 

misclassification, as well as information about response rates 

for both the household and establishment surveys, is available 

on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/covid19/employment-situationcovid19-faq-august-2021.htm. 

Looking at supplemental pandemic-related measures from the 

household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally 

adjusted), the share of employed people who teleworked in August 

because of the coronavirus pandemic was 13.4 percent, little 

changed from July. These data refer only to employed people who 
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teleworked or worked from home for pay at some point in the last 

4 weeks specifically because of the pandemic; they do not 

include all instances of telework.

In August, the number of people who reported that they had 

been unable to work because their employer closed or lost 

business due to the pandemic--that is, they did not work at all 

or worked fewer hours at some point in the last 4 weeks due to 

the pandemic--increased by 497,000 to 5.6 million. Among those 

who reported in August that they were unable to work because of 

pandemic-related closures or lost business, 13.9 percent 

received at least some pay from their employer for the hours not 

worked, up from 9.1 percent in July. 

Among those not in the labor force in August, 1.5 million 

people were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic, 

little changed from July. (To be counted as unemployed, by 

definition, individuals must either be actively searching for 

work or on temporary layoff.)

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 235,000 in 

August, and the unemployment rate declined to 5.2 percent.