Job growth slows in August

[JANASENA]

Employers added only 156,000 jobs in August as the pace of hiring slowed, according to the Labor Department report Friday.

The unemployment rate also crept up to 4.4% from the 16-year low of 4.3% reached last month, as fewer adults reported that they had a job during the month.

The Labor Department also revised down earlier estimates for job growth in both June and July by a total of 41,000 jobs, suggesting that the labor market is not quite as strong as it appeared to be a month ago.

While Hurricane Harvey has essentially shut down much of business in the Houston metropolitan area in the last week, the storm had essentially no impact on this jobs reading, the Labor Department said. The department collected most of the numbers behind the August report before the storm hit Texas.

Harvey's impact could show up in the September jobs report if numerous businesses in the region are still closed two weeks from now, when they collect this month's data. The storm could also give a lift to employment when cleanup and reconstruction begins.