The tight U.S. labor market loosened some in August as employers hired fewer workers, more people sought work and wages rose at a slower pace, the Wall Street Journal reported. Employers added 315,000 jobs last month, down from the prior month’s revised 526,000 jobs, the Labor Department said on Friday, with new jobs spread across the economy. The deceleration marked a pullback from robust gains that characterized much of the past two years. Still, job growth remained well above the prepandemic trend. “The labor market is still very strong,” said Rhea Thomas, senior economist at Wilmington Trust, adding the August report “shows an initial step towards some cooling of what has been a very tight labor market.” The jobless rate rose to 3.7% in August from a half-century low of 3.5% the prior month. The increase in the unemployment rate reflected more workers entering the labor force. The share of adults working or seeking a job rose to 62.4% in August from 62.1% in July, as participation among women ages 25 to 54 jumped to the highest level since 2000.
