Employment in the U.S. rose by much less than expected in the month of August, the Labor Department revealed in a closely watched report released on Friday.
The report said non-farm payroll employment crept up by 22,000 jobs in August after climbing by an upwardly revised 79,000 jobs in July.
Economists had expected employment to increase by 75,000 jobs compared to the addition of 73,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The report also showed the uptick of 14,000 jobs that had been reported for June was downwardly revised to a decrease of 13,000 jobs.
The Labor Department said job growth in the healthcare and social assistance sector in August was partly offset by job losses in federal government and in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate inched up by 4.3 percent in August from 4.2 in July, in line with economist estimates.