Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until 

8:30 a.m. (ET) Friday, September 2, 2022.

Statement of

William W. Beach

Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, September 2, 2022

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 315,000 in August, 

and the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent. Notable job gains 

occurred in professional and business services, health care, and

retail trade.

Total nonfarm employment increased by 5.8 million over the 

year, as the labor market continued to recover from the job 

losses of the pandemic-induced recession. This growth brings 

total nonfarm employment 240,000 above its February 2020 level 

before the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In August, employment growth continued in professional and 

business services (+68,000). Job gains occurred in computer 

systems design and related services (+14,000), management and 

technical consulting services (+13,000), architectural and 

engineering services (+10,000), and scientific research and 

development services (+6,000). In August, legal services lost 
2

jobs (-9,000). Over the past 12 months, professional and 

business services has added 1.1 million jobs.

Health care added 48,000 jobs in August, with gains in 

offices of physicians (+15,000), hospitals (+15,000), and 

nursing and residential care facilities (+12,000). Health care 

has added 412,000 jobs over the year. Despite this growth, 

employment in health care is below its February 2020 level by 

37,000, or 0.2 percent.

Employment in retail trade rose by 44,000 in August and by 

422,000 over the past 12 months. Over the month, job growth 

occurred in general merchandise stores (+15,000), food and 

beverage stores (+15,000), health and personal care stores 

(+10,000), and building material and garden supply stores 

(+7,000). Employment in furniture and home furnishings stores 

continued to trend down (-3,000).

Employment in manufacturing continued to trend up in August 

(+22,000), with job gains concentrated in durable goods 

(+19,000). Manufacturing has added 461,000 jobs over the year.

Financial activities added 17,000 jobs in August and 

200,000 over the year.

Employment in wholesale trade rose by 15,000 in August and 

has returned to its February 2020 level. This industry added 

197,000 jobs over the year.
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In August, mining employment increased by 6,000, with 

growth concentrated in support activities for mining (+7,000). 

Over the year, mining has added 68,000 jobs.

Employment in leisure and hospitality changed little in 

August (+31,000), following gains that averaged 90,000 per month

over the first 7 months of the year. Employment in leisure and 

hospitality is below its February 2020 level by 1.2 million, or 

7.2 percent.

Employment showed little change over the month in other 

major industries, including construction, transportation and 

warehousing, information, other services, and government.

The average workweek for all private-sector workers fell by 

0.1 hour to 34.5 hours in August. The average workweek for 

manufacturing was little changed at 40.3 hours.

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls increased by 10 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $32.36 in 

August. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have 

increased by 5.2 percent.

Turning to the labor market indicators from the household 

survey, the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage point to 

3.7 percent in August. The number of unemployed people increased

by 344,000 over the month to 6.0 million. In July, these 

measures had returned to their levels in February 2020, prior to 

the pandemic.
4

In August, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.5

percent) and Hispanics (4.5 percent) increased. The jobless 

rates for adult women (3.3 percent), teenagers (10.4 percent), 

Whites (3.2 percent), Blacks (6.4 percent), and Asians (2.8

percent) showed little change.

Among the unemployed, the number of permanent job losers 

increased by 188,000 to 1.4 million in August. The number of 

people on temporary layoff, at 782,000, was essentially 

unchanged over the month.

By duration of unemployment, the number of people 

unemployed for 27 weeks or more was little changed at 1.1 

million in August. These long-term unemployed accounted for 18.8

percent of all unemployed people in August.

The labor force participation rate, at 62.4 percent, 

increased by 0.3 percentage point in August, and the employmentpopulation ratio, at 60.1 percent, changed little. Both measures 

are below their February 2020 levels, by 1.0 percentage point 

and 1.1 percentage points, respectively.

In August, the number of people working part time for 

economic reasons was little changed at 4.1 million.

The number of people not in the labor force who currently 

want a job decreased by 361,000 to 5.5 million in August. This 

measure remains above its February 2020 level of 5.0 million.
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Among those who were not in the labor force but wanted a 

job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor 

force, at 1.4 million, was little changed in August. (People who 

are marginally 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, at 366,000, was also little changed in 

August.

Looking at the supplemental pandemic-related measures from 

the household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally 

adjusted), the share of employed people who teleworked because 

of the pandemic was 6.5 percent in August, down from 7.1 percent 

the month before. These data refer only to employed people who 

teleworked or worked at 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 fell by 268,000 to 1.9 million. 

(These individuals did not work at all or worked fewer hours at 

some point in the last 4 weeks due to the pandemic.) Among those 

who reported in August that they were unable to work because of 
6

pandemic-related closures or lost business, 21.5 percent 

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

worked, little changed from July.

Among those not in the labor force in August, 523,000 

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 increased by 315,000

in August, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent.