USA-Employment disappoints but wages increase – archyworldys

* 235,000 jobs created, more than three times less than expected

* Unemployment rate down to 5.2%

(With details, market reactions)

by Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (Reuters) – The recovery in employment in the United States slowed sharply in August, official statistics released on Friday show, in a context marked both by labor shortages and a deterioration of demand in the service sector with the resumption of the COVID-19 epidemic.

The Labor Department reported 235,000 non-farm jobs created last month after 1.053 million (revised) in July.

The unemployment rate fell from 5.4% to 5.2%, as expected, but it is considered to be underestimated by official surveys due to the high number of people declaring themselves “employed but absent from work” since start of the epidemic.

Economists polled by Reuters predicted an average of 750,000 job creations, their estimates ranging from 375,000 to 1.027 million, a gap that reflected the multiple uncertainties currently surrounding the economy in the United States.

The August job creation figure has been below the average for the previous three months for several years, but has been revised upwards 11 times in the past 12 years.

The report released Friday, eagerly awaited by financial markets, could lead to a downward revision of growth forecasts for the third quarter, a movement already well underway due to the impact of the Delta variant of the coronavirus and material shortages raw materials or semiconductors which weigh heavily on automotive production and the restocking of companies.

The August figures will also be closely studied by investors to try to find clues on the future evolution of the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve, which is expected to announce in September or November its intention to reduce its prices. purchases of bonds on the markets, one of its main supports to the economy.

The central bank must deal with both the slowdown in employment and the multiplication of inflationary signals: last month, the average hourly wage increased by 0.6%, twice as much as expected, and it is showing on a an increase of 4.3%.

The dollar initially trended lower after the publication of these figures, falling to 1.19 per euro EUR =, its lowest level since July 30, but it quickly erased its losses.

In the bond market, the yields of Treasury bills trended upwards, to 1.324% for ten-year securities against less than 1.30% before the publication of the statistics.

(Report Lucia Mutikani, French version Marc Angrand, edited by Blandine Hénault)