DHAKA: The expanding US economy added another 151,000 jobs in August, according to the US Labor Department, while the unemployment rate stayed at 4.9%.

The number of extra jobs was sharply down from an upwardly revised July figure of 275,000, reports the BBC.

It was also a smaller rise than the average monthly increase of 204,000 seen during the previous 12 months.

Economists now think the chances of the US central bank raising interest rates this month have been reduced.

The official data for the country’s “non-farm payrolls” shows that the number of people out of work was unchanged at 7.8 million in August.

The US economy has been expanding steadily since the end of the last recession in 2009.

Many US economists had expected a larger rise in the number of new jobs being created, more in line with the 190,000 jobs per month added during the previous three months.

But despite the apparent slowdown in August, the continued expansion of employment in the US still points to the possibility that the central bank, the Federal Reserve, could raise interest rates later in the year, most probably in December.

Last week Janet Yellen, the chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, said the country’s economic growth and a stronger jobs market meant “the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened in recent months”.

BDST: 1224 HRS, SEP 04, 2016
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