Perspective: Morning Commentary for September 4
September 4 – What better way to gear up for Labor Day weekend than a blowout Non-Farm Payrolls report, with this morning’s release showing 162k jobs being added in August, nearly tripling the average analyst estimate and marking the highest reading since March. Even more optimistic, the ugly loss of 23k jobs seen in July was revised notably higher to show 21k jobs being added during the month, while June was revised 11k higher to now show an addition of 31k. It’s interesting to note that August’s strength was seen in both the private and public sector, with the private sector adding 127k jobs in August, the highest monthly gain since April, and the public sector adding 35k jobs, the highest since October 2024. The unemployment rate in the U.S. held steady at 4.1% in August, now tied with July for the lowest level since June of last year. Also notable was the improvement in the labor force participation rate, rising to 61.6% in August from the 61.4% seen in July which represented the lowest rate since the height of the pandemic over six years ago. Overall, this was a very impressive result for the health of the U.S. labor market, keeping one side of the Fed’s dual mandate in check.
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