US labor market cools again in August, adding 142,000 jobs

After a disappointing July, the U.S. job market rebounded slightly in the month of August, according to new data from the Labor Department.

Employers added 142,000 jobs in August -- a sharp increase over the 89,000 jobs added in July, but still falling short of the projected 161,000 job gains.

Both the unemployment rate, at 4.2%, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.1 million, changed little in August. A month earlier, the rate was 4.3%, the highest level in nearly three years. The numbers are higher than a year earlier, when the jobless rate was 3.8%, and the number of unemployed people was 6.3 million.

Job gains in August occurred in construction and health care, according to the Labor Department.

Construction employment rose by 34,000 in August, higher than the average monthly gain of 19,000 over the prior 12 months.

Health care added 31,000 jobs in August, about half the average monthly gain of 60,000 over the prior 12 months. Employment rose in ambulatory health care services (+24,000) and hospitals (+10,000).

Employment in social assistance continued its upward trend (+13,000) in August but at a slower pace than the average monthly gain over the prior 12 months (+21,000). Individual and family services added 18,000 jobs over the month.

Transportation and warehousing added 22,000 jobs, with gains in couriers and messengers (+8,000) and warehousing and storage (+8,000). Over the prior 12 months, employment in transportation and warehousing had shown little net change.

Employment in manufacturing edged down in August (-24,000), while all other major industries saw little change over the month.

Analysts say the soft labor market could push the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates later this month. Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled in July that bank officials were planning for a September cut, but he didn't indicate the size. Substantial rate cuts "could spur some companies to start hiring more quickly," The Associated Press noted.

"The Fed could cut rates by a quarter-percentage point or a super-sized half-percentage point," economics reporter Courtenay Brown wrote for Axios . "Macro-watchers believe that the Fed might go bigger if they believe the labor market is cooling more than they would like."