Politics

Economy loses jobs for the first time since 2020

Welcome to The Hill's Business & Economy newsletter {beacon} Business & Economy Business & Economy The Big Story Economy loses jobs for the first time since 2020 The latest jobs report from the Labor Department is the first to register a net negative jobs month for the U.S. economy since December 2020, when the...

Sep 5, 2025 - 20:00

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Economy loses jobs for the first time since 2020

Welcome to The Hill's Business & Economy newsletter

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Business & Economy

The Big Story

Economy loses jobs for the first time since 2020

The latest jobs report from the Labor Department is the first to register a net negative jobs month for the U.S. economy since December 2020, when the economy shed 183,000 jobs.

The report found the economy added a paltry 22,000 jobs in August, adding to concerns about the health of the economy while increasing the chances of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

It also includes further revisions to previous months, including an estimate that the economy lost 13,000 jobs in June.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3 percent, rising for the second month in a row, while the labor force participation rate increased after falling since April.

The August report increases the ratio of the number of those seeking jobs to the number of jobs open. There are now about 200,000 more people looking for work in the U.S. than there are available jobs.

It appears this is all leading to a slower growth in wages, which already have had trouble keeping up with inflation.

The Hill's Tobias Burns has more takeaways here.

Welcome to The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter, I'm Aris Folley — covering the intersection of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

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