Statement by Acting Secretary of Labor Su on August jobs report

WASHINGTON – Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie A. Su issued the following statement on the August 2023 Employment Situation report: 

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 187,000 jobs, an indication that the economy continues its strong and steady growth as we return to normal following the breakneck pace of our rapid recovery. Solid increases in health care and social assistance, along with continued gains in construction and manufacturing, also reflect broad economic growth across different sectors.

“As more people entered the labor market looking for work, the labor force participation rate increased to a post-pandemic recovery high of 62.8 percent. The unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 3.8 percent from 3.5 percent in July because more people saw an opportunity to work, and they started looking for a job. This is another sign of the optimism that people are feeling about this economy—they’re not sitting on the sidelines.

“I’m also excited to announce today that for the first time ever, BLS has started providing monthly disaggregated data for Asian American ethnic groups on key economic metrics, such as unemployment rate, employment-population ratio, and labor force participation rate. Being responsive to this new granular data on Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and other Asian workers is an important step toward rebuilding a more equitable economy and telling a more comprehensive story about the issues facing the diverse groups and communities within the larger AA and NHPI community.”

“As we head into Labor Day weekend, workers across the country have many reasons to celebrate: Bidenomics is working, and the Investing in America agenda is creating good jobs that are building pathways to the middle class for more families in every corner of the country. Over 13.5 million jobs have been added since President Biden took office, and we are moving into a new stage of stable and equitable economic growth that is delivering on the promise of good jobs for all and lowering costs for working families everywhere.”