2023 and early 2024 saw numerous months where BLS reported jobs added increasing by 200k or more. but after May 2024, jobs added have been slowing,
In August 2024, US nonfarm payrolls rose by 142K, with job gains in construction and healthcare. The unemployment rate held at 4.2%, and the labor force participation rate remained steady at 62.7%. Average hourly earnings increased by 0.4% to $35.21.
2,358 jobs were added in August. This is considerably below the average jobs added since April 2021 of 5,254 jobs added monthly.
Both previous months were revised sharply lower, so once again expect the August print to suffer the same fate. Specifically, the BLS said that the payroll print for June was revised down by 61,000, from +179,000 to +118,000, and the change for July was revised down by 25,000, from +114,000 to +89,000. With these revisions, employment in June and July combined is 86,000 lower than previously reported It also means that 4 consecutive job prints have been revised lower, and 6 of the past 7.
Weekly hours worked remains below pre-pandemic average; a fraction of an hour per week may not sound like much, but multiply that by over 150 million people and 52 weeks per year, and that’s a significant difference in man-hours worked and aggregate income.
Yes, the US economy is slowing.
Confounded Interest - Anthony B. Sanders 
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