The United States(US) labour market has begun to stall, with employers facing economic uncertainty due to tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump and an immigration crackdown that has softened the labour pool.
The economy added 22,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent, according to the report published by the US Department of Labor.
The August report adds to a series of weak indicators this week that point to a cooling labour market.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed vacancies dropped to their lowest levels since the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the first time since April 2021, there are now more unemployed workers than available jobs. Private-sector hiring has also slowed, with the ADP National Employment Report showing payrolls rising by 54,000 in August, down sharply from 106,000 the prior month.
Healthcare added 31,000 jobs and social assistance 16,000, making them the only sectors to see significant gains. Smaller increases were reported in construction, retail, professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality.
Those advances were offset by losses in other areas, including 15,000 federal government jobs, 12,000 in manufacturing, and 6,000 in oil and gas extraction.
Skanda Amarnath, executive director of Employ America and a former Federal Reserve economist, said, “Another poor jobs report thanks to tariffs.
With the benefit of revisions, it’s increasingly clear that tariffs are weighing on hiring and jobs. Manufacturing jobs are falling sharply, and so are other trade-sensitive sectors like mining and wholesale trade.”
US markets slumped on the disappointing jobs report. The Nasdaq is down 0.7 percent, the S&P is down 0.8, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is trending downwards as well and is 0.75 percent below the market open.
The latest employment numbers land less than two weeks before the US Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting.
The central bank closely monitors jobs data in setting interest rates, balancing signs of labour market weakness against persistent inflation. The White House has repeatedly pressed Fed Chair Jerome Powell to cut rates.