August jobs report: Which sectors hired the most

Yahoo Finance’s Alexandra Semenova joins the Live show to discuss which sectors added the most jobs in the month of August.

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BRIAN SOZZI: Now, here are three things you need to know right now.

It is jobs day in America, folks. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 315,000 in August. And the unemployment rate clocked in at 3.7%. And we saw solid increases in retail and healthcare jobs. Yahoo Finance's own Alexandra Semenova has been diving into the report and has more for us right now. Alex.

ALEXANDRA SEMENOVA: Well, guys, hiring continued to be robust in August. Not only did we get another solid headline figure, but hiring was really prevalent across the board. Notably, there were gains in business services, healthcare, and retail.

Retail was a big standout this month, adding 44,000 jobs in August and 422,000 jobs over the past 12 months. This is a notable increase from 22,000 jobs added in July in the sector, especially as we hear major retailers, like Walmart, announcing plans for layoffs.

At the industry level, also an interesting component was services-based employers, which slightly eased hiring, adding 31,000 jobs in August in leisure and hospitality. Previously, the sector was averaging gains of about 90,000 per month, as a return to in-person activity drove-- activities drove demand for dining and lodging.

This was one of the hardest hit sectors, as we know, by COVID. And even though the labor market in July made a full recovery, it still continues to lag. Employment in leisure and hospitality remains at 1.2 million or 7.2% below prepandemic figures.

Job gains in the professional and business service sector were also a standout with 68,000 jobs added in August. This sector is well above where it was in February 2020, with most jobs added across management, and companies, and enterprises, computer systems, and related services.

And manufacturing also continue to trend upward. In August, 22,000 jobs. And gains were concentrated in durable goods industries. Manufacturing has added 461,000 jobs over the past 12 months. And lastly, healthcare added 48,000 jobs, though the sector is still slightly below its February 2022-- the 2020 level.

BRAD SMITH: So that's where we saw the gains. What were some of the duds? Where do we expect more of these jobs that continue to come online? Or where was this, perhaps, just a weak period for some of the jobs?

ALEXANDRA SEMENOVA: Well, yeah, Brad, you know, as I mentioned, the industry sector was an interesting one because this one has been leading gains for the last several months as people returned to in-person activities, people going out dining. So to see that decrease to 31,000 compared to 96,000 in July is really significant here. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in coming months as well.

BRAD SMITH: All right, Yahoo Finance's own Alexandria Semenova. Excellent breakdown there of some of the gainers, laggards, if you will, on the sector basis here. Let's--