The US unemployment rate rises to 4.3% in August.

The U.S. economy created fewer jobs than expected in August, and the unemployment rate stood at 4.3%, fueling expectations of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

The United States created 22,000 new jobs last month, down from 79,000 in July, according to data released Friday by the Department of Labor.

Analysts had expected 75,000 job creations, according to the consensus published by MarketWatch.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, compared to 4.2% in July and 4.1% in June. This is the highest level since the last quarter of 2021.

This publication could finally convince the US Federal Reserve (Fed, central bank) to lower interest rates to support the economy at its next meeting on September 17.

Job growth in June, previously estimated at 14,000, was revised to a decline of 13,000, according to the report. July hiring was revised slightly upward.

U.S. employment figures are often a key piece of data that analysts closely monitor, as they typically influence how the Federal Reserve adjusts interest rates, another of President Donald Trump's key priorities.

Friday's figures are under particular scrutiny after poor performance in the July data released last month prompted Trump to claim the figures were "rigged" and to fire the commissioner of labor statistics.

The breakdown of the figures indicates that the healthcare sector increased hiring, while the public (federal) sector saw a sharp decline, coinciding with the Trump administration's cuts.

In firing Commissioner Erika McEntarfer last month, Trump accused her of "falsifying" employment data to boost the Democrats' chances of victory in the recent presidential election.

He also criticized the downward revisions to hiring figures, which "always go negative," Trump protested.

But Nationwide's chief economist, Kathy Bostjancic, told AFP that the data revisions are happening because survey response rates have declined.

If companies respond late, the figures must be updated to reflect incoming data. The tension surrounding the collection of public labor market data is not new; it erupted just over a year ago.

In August 2024, in the midst of the election campaign, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced a sharp downward revision to job creation: 818,000 fewer jobs between March 2023 and March 2024 than had been announced.

The slowdown in hiring has been noticeable so far this year, according to KPMG senior economist Kenneth Kim.

"Recent data highlight a fragile balance in the labor market: labor demand and supply have moderated, while layoffs remain limited," Daco said.

He also warned that the labor force participation rate will likely decline slightly as stricter immigration policies under the Trump administration increasingly restrict worker flows in the coming months.

The Republican president's administration has launched a massive crackdown on illegal immigration, which it accuses of driving down wages and working conditions.