US Jobs Report Signals Smooth Downshift in Labor Market

  • Still-solid hiring, slower wage growth gives Fed room to pause
  • More people returned to the labor force but couldn’t find jobs

Commuters in New York.

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
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The latest US job data showed a labor market undergoing a controlled cooling, illustrated by solid hiring, slower earnings growth and more people returning to the workforce.

Employers in August added 187,000 jobs in a broad-based advance, following downward revisions to payrolls in the prior two months, government figures showed Friday. Hundreds of thousands more joined the labor force, though a growing number was unable to find work right away.