The number of jobs in the US economy increased in August by 151 000 according to the country's Labor Ministry data. The analysts interviewed by MarketWatch predicted on average an increase by 173 000.
According to revised data, in July, the growth rate amounted to 275 000 instead of 255 000 as previously announced.
Meanwhile, the US unemployment rate last month remained unchanged at 4.9%, while the analysts expected a decline to 4.8%.
Thus, the growth rate of the number of jobs in August slowed down considerably compared with the beginning of summer. This may push the leadership of the Federal Reserve System to postpone raising interest rates at the end of the year, experts say.
"The main figure (the change in the Nonfarm Payroll) is just a slight disappointment, but the weak growth of hourly wages and rising unemployment is a significant disappointment. Raising rates in September will almost certainly be removed from the agenda right now. In order for this to happen, the statistics should have been completely live up to expectations "- said Adam Button, principal analyst at ForexLive.
According to the Ministry of Labor, the average hourly wage in the US last month increased by 0.1% compared to July and by 2.4% compared with August last year - to $ 25.73.
The average workweek fell 6 minutes - to 34.3 hours.
The US manufacturing sector jobs in August decreased by 14 000, which is the maximum drop in three months. The construction sector jobs fell 6000, which means this indicator decreased in four months of the last five. In the services sector, employment jumped by 150 000, while the retailers increased their staff by 15 000.
The number of jobs in the US private sector increased last month by 126 000, while the number of civil servants increased by 25 000.
The share of population in the labor force remained at around 62.8%.