America added 162,000 jobs in August. Restaurants and bars added 59,000 of them
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The story behind it
American employers added 162,000 jobs in August and the share market treated it as bad news Read the edition →On the calendar
The US releases that move markets, in New Zealand and Australian time. Economic calendar →
The story behind it
American employers added 162,000 jobs in August and the share market treated it as bad news Read the edition →On the calendar
The US releases that move markets, in New Zealand and Australian time. Economic calendar →What the chart shows
America added 162,000 jobs in August, beating every forecast in Bloomberg's survey of economists — but where those jobs came from told a different story than the headline number.
Restaurants and bars did the heavy lifting, adding 59,000 positions against a typical month of about 12,000. Local government education added 42,000 and manufacturing another 16,000. The information sector went the other way, shedding 23,000 jobs concentrated in computing infrastructure, publishing and broadcasting.
Full story in today's Sharespective.
The numbers
Net change in US jobs by sector, August 2026. The four biggest movers don't sum to the 162,000 total.
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Restaurants & bars | +59,000 |
| Local govt education | +42,000 |
| Manufacturing | +16,000 |
| Information sector | −23,000 |
How we make these charts: one chart a day from a story in the edition, drawn from the figures the story names and checked against the sources named on the chart before it is published. General information only, not financial advice.
