CUNA Senior Economist Dawit Kebede issued the following statement in response to the Labor Department’s August Employment Situation:   

“The U.S. economy added 315,000 jobs in August with gains across several industries. The current total nonfarm employment is higher than the pre-pandemic level by a quarter million. This is a strong jobs report indicating a resilient economy despite slowing signs in some other areas.  

“The labor force participation rate increased by three-tenths of a percentage point, adding about 800,000 people to the labor market. However, participation is still lower than its level in February 2020. The unemployment rate increased from 3.5 to 3.7 as more people who were on the sidelines joined the labor market.  

“The Federal Reserve will likely stay on course, raising the interest rate to a restrictive level considering this and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey released this week. There are two job vacancies available for each unemployed person creating a very tight labor market. This can lead to inflationary wage increases.”