Job growth slowed sharply in August as COVID-19 spread

Hiring across the U.S. pulled back dramatically in August as a surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the Delta variant dragged down the recovery.

Employers added 235,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported on Friday, far fewer than the roughly 700,000 expected by forecasters. The nation's unemployment rate fell to 5.2%, from 5.4%. The monthly job gains are a big drop from July, when more than 1 million jobs were created, according to revised government data. Some 5.7 million fewer workers are payrolls today than before the coronavirus slammed the U.S. in February 2020.