In August, the United States has added 235,000 jobs. This is lower than the 720,000 marks that economists expected, and much lower than the 1 million added in both June and July. The economy still lacks 5.3 million jobs than the pre-pandemic levels.
Despite that slowdown, Biden administration officials pointed to average job growth of 750,000 in the past three months and a drop in the unemployment rate to 5.2%, the lowest since the pandemic started.
“But we have work to do to beat back the delta variant and build an inclusive economy,” U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said. “Rising infection rates in some states hit the food and retail sectors hard, where workers of color and women are disproportionately represented.”
