Washington, Dc, September 1, 2006--Nonfarm payrolls in August grew by 128,000, according to the Labor Department said Friday.
The unemployment rate inched lower to 4.7% in August from 4.8% in July.
Job growth beat the estimates of economists, who were expecting an increase of 123,000.
Average hourly earnings rose by 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $16.79. Average wages were expected to rise 0.3%. Earnings were revised slightly higher in July to a gain of 0.5% compared with the initial estimate of a 0.4% gain.
Seasonally adjusted payrolls in June and July were revised higher by a cumulative 18,000.
Payroll growth has averaged 117,000 per month in the past four months. This is measurably weaker than the 176,000 pace in the first quarter.
Average weekly earnings increased to $567.50.
Hourly earnings have increased 3.9% in the past year.
The average workweek slipped by 6 minutes to 33.8 hours. This was below expectations that the workweek would hold steady in August.
Factory hours also fell by 6 minutes to 41.3 hours. Total hours worked in the economy decreased by 0.2%.
A survey of some 400,000 business establishments showed private payrolls increased by 111,000. Government added 17,000 jobs.
Jobs in manufacturing industries fell by 11,000, the third decline in the past four months.
The construction sector added 17,000 jobs in August, the strongest pace since February. Service producing jobs rose by 118,000, led by the hiring of teachers for the upcoming school year.
Education and health services employment grew by 60,000, the fastest pace since October 2004. Jobs in the retail sector fell by 14,000. This was the fourth decline in the past five months in the sector.
Leisure and hospitality industries added 10,000 jobs.
A separate survey of some 60,000 households showed employment increased by 250,000 to 144.6 million, while unemployment fell by 86,000 to 7.1 million.
