Actalent Labor Market and Economy Report: A Look at Trends in August 2024

Executive Summary

Job Growth

The U.S. economy added 142,000 jobs in August, with notable gains occurring in construction and healthcare, which have been the only sectors consistently adding jobs over the last few months. Job gains from June and July were also both revised down, indicating that the labor market was softer during those months than initially estimated.

Unemployment and Labor Force Participation

The unemployment rate declined very slightly from 4.3% in July to 4.2% in August. Unemployment rates for STEM labor categories remain very low. Unemployment rates, specific to the industries Actalent supports, were as follows for August: hospitals (2.0%), utilities (1.8%), professional and technical services (3.4%), manufacturing (3.4%), and construction (3.5%).

Among skilled labor categories Actalent sources talent for, unemployment in software-IT-mathematics was 3.5%; architecture and engineering was 1.4%; and sciences (life, physical and social) was 2.8%.

The labor force participation rate stayed within the range of 62.5%-62.8% over the last 12 months, indicating that the share of the U.S. population working or looking for work has been relatively unchanged.

Inflation

The consumer price index, a measure of inflation, increased by 2.5% for the 12 months ending August. Inflation has made significant progress toward the Federal Reserve's goal of 2.0%, likely being a contributing factor that led to the Fed lowering interest rates by 50 basis points in September.

Wage Growth

Average hourly earnings increased by 3.8% for the 12 months ending August. This was slightly above the year-over-year increase of 3.6% recorded in July. "Real" inflation-adjusted average hourly earnings have increased by 1.3% between August 2023 and August 2024. In other words, despite average hourly earnings increasing by 3.8% year-over-year, workers may only feel as if they’re making about 1.3% more, on average, due to the effects of inflation.