At the end of July, Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell said “the labor market’s solid — historically low unemployment” after the central bank declined to cut interest rates. The labor market doesn’t look so “solid” just five weeks later.

The U.S. added 22,000 jobs in August, the Labor Department reported Friday, below the gain of 75,000 jobs economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected to seen.

After President Trump expressed "shock" over the pace of hiring in July, much is riding on the employment data for August.

The Labor Department released the August jobs report which showed that job growth continued at a subdued pace amid economic uncertainty over trade policy.

Employers added just 22,000 jobs in August as Trump's tariffs, federal layoffs and immigration crackdown posed risks for the labor market. Unemployment rose.

The ADP employment report revealed that 54,000 nonfarm private jobs were added in August, down from the 106,000 gain in July. The latest six-month moving average is 62,000, the lowest level since the aftermath of the 2020 pandemic.