Washington • U.S. employers added a modest 130,000 jobs in August, a sign that hiring in the United States has slowed but remains durable in the face of global economic weakness and President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.
The job gain was boosted by the temporary hiring of 25,000 government workers for the 2020 Census. Excluding all government hiring, the economy added just 96,000 jobs in August, the fewest since May.
Still, the Labor Department reported Friday in its monthly jobs report that the unemployment rate remained 3.7%, near the lowest level in five decades.