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| US economy: No new jobs added in August | US economy: No new jobs added in August |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| The US economy added no net new jobs in August, according to the key non-farm payrolls figures from the Department of Labor. | The US economy added no net new jobs in August, according to the key non-farm payrolls figures from the Department of Labor. |
| The previous month's figure was revised downwards - it now shows that 85,000 jobs were created in July, down from 117,000 in the earlier estimate. | |
| The August number was much worse than had been expected - the predicted figure was an addition of about 70,000. | The August number was much worse than had been expected - the predicted figure was an addition of about 70,000. |
| The unemployment rate remained unchanged from July at 9.1%. | The unemployment rate remained unchanged from July at 9.1%. |
| Global stock markets had been lower all day on Friday ahead of the numbers and they fell further after the publication. | Global stock markets had been lower all day on Friday ahead of the numbers and they fell further after the publication. |
| 'Rough month' | |
| It is the first time since 1945 that there has been a zero payrolls figure. | It is the first time since 1945 that there has been a zero payrolls figure. |
| A strike by 45,000 Verizon workers reduced the figure, as striking workers do not appear on payrolls, although those employees have now returned to work. | A strike by 45,000 Verizon workers reduced the figure, as striking workers do not appear on payrolls, although those employees have now returned to work. |
| "August was a pretty rough month for the economy," said Ryan Sweet at Moody's Analytics in Pennsylvania. | |
| "We saw financial markets tighten. I think businesses sort of responded by putting hiring on the back-burner." | |
| Average hourly earnings fell by 3 cents to $23.09, while the average working week dropped to 34.2 hours from 34.3 hours in July. | |
| The size of the labour force increased by 366,000 to 153.6m. | |
| The number of jobs added in June was revised down from 46,000 to 20,000. All the revisions in June and July were due to fewer government jobs being added than previously thought. | |
| Attention will now turn to a speech by President Obama next Thursday, in which he is due to outline a new plan for boosting growth and creating jobs. | |
| "US companies have no confidence in the US economy and no confidence in the country's political leadership, so it's no surprise no jobs are being created," said Max Johnson at Currency Solutions. | |
| "The US economy is looking increasingly forlorn and this latest jobs data will apply further downward pressure on the dollar." |