US hiring picked up in August as pay surged most in 9 years

WASHINGTON (AP) — The pace of hiring in the United States quickened in August, and wages grew at their fastest pace in nine years – evidence that employers remain confident despite the Trump administration's ongoing conflicts with its trading partners.

The economy added a strong 201,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate stayed at 3.9 percent, near an 18-year low, the government said today in its monthly jobs report.

Taken as a whole, the data pointed to a job market that remains resilient even after nearly a decade of economic growth – the second-longest such stretch in U.S. history – and even with tariffs and counter-tariffs on imports and exports looming over U.S. employers that rely on global trade.

The economy is expanding at a healthy pace, fueled by tax cuts, confident consumers, greater business investment in equipment and more government spending. Growth reached 4.2 percent at an annual rate in the April-June quarter, the fastest pace in four years.

"I view this as the strongest job market in a generation," Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at Glassdoor, a career website.

Even while reporting a robust job gain for August, the Labor Department revised sharply down its estimate of hiring in June and July. The government now says employers added 50,000 fewer jobs in those two months combined than it had previously estimated.