WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. employers added 169,000
workers to their payrolls last month and the jobless rate fell
unexpectedly to 4.9 percent, its lowest level since August
2001, a reminder of the economy’s vigor before Hurricane
Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast.
While August’s job-creation tally fell slightly short of
the 190,000 gain expected by Wall Street, the Labor Department
said Friday job growth in June and July was stronger than
previously thought, bumping up the tally for those two months
by a combined 44,000.