U.S. Economy Adds Just 22,000 Jobs in August—June Revised Down To Negative TerritoryJohn Carney 5 Sep 2025
The U.S. economy added 22,000 jobs in August, the Labor Department reported Friday, as the unemployment rate edged up to 4.3 percent—figures that come amid growing questions about the reliability of the government’s closely watched monthly employment data.
Economists had expected employers to add 75,000 workers to payrolls, with estimates ranging from 59,000 to 110,000, according to Econoday’s survey. They had forecast unemployment would rise to 4.3 percent.
The August report follows a troubling pattern of significant downward revisions that have called into question the accuracy of the initial job numbers. In July, employers initially appeared to add 73,000 jobs, missing expectations of 104,000, while unemployment ticked up to 4.2 percent.
But the July report also delivered a striking revision of earlier months: The May job estimate was slashed by 125,000 to just 19,000, while June was cut by 133,000 to 14,000. Combined, the revisions subtracted 258,000 jobs from previous estimates—a large adjustment that underscored the growing concerns about the reliability of preliminary jobs data.
The new report revised June estimate down by another 27,000, indicating that month saw a decline in employment by 13,000. The July estimate was revised up by 6,000 to 79,000. With these revisions, employment in June and July combined is 21,000 lower than previously reported.
With these revisions, the three-month average of jobs falls to 29,000, below most estimates of what the economy needs each month to keep the level of unemployment steady.
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