August 2026 Employment Situation — 2026-09-04

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 162,000 in August, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in food services and drinking places and in local government education. The information industry lost jobs. This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical Note. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent in August, and the number of unemployed people changed little at 7.0 million. Both measures changed little over the year. (See table A-1.) Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for people who are Asian declined to 3.2 percent in August.