156,000 jobs added in August; figure falls below expectations

Washington

THE US economy added 156,000 jobs in August as the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged - up marginally to 4.4 per cent from 4.3 per cent, federal economists reported on Friday.

Average hourly wages rose 3 US cents in August to US$26.39, up 2.5 per cent from a year ago.

The growth missed expectations, as analysts had expected the economists would report approximately 200,000 new j…