Highlights from U.S. August jobs report

The U.S. unemployment rate fell 0.2% point to 5.1% in August, the lowest since March 2008. The details were weaker, however, with a 41k decline in the labour force while employment reported in the household survey was up 196k after a weak 100k gain in July. The labour force participation rate was unchanged at 62.6%.

Within the unemployment rate, short-term unemployment (less than 27 weeks) fell 0.2% point to 3.7% in August, below to the 3.8% average level in the 2006-2007 boom years. The long-term rate was steady at 1.4%, a low since September 2008.

The U-6 unemployment rate, which counts total unemployed plus those employed part-time for economic reasons and those not in the labour force who would take a job if one were available, fell 0.1% point to 10.3%, the lowest level since June 2008, notes Nordea Bank.

The involuntary part-time employment rate - the second largest component of the U-6 underemployment rate after the unemployment rate and also one of the measures on the Janet Yellen dashboard - rose 0.1% from July's 4.0%, which was the lowest level since September 2008 but still higher than its 2001-2007 pre-recession 2.9% average.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% m/m in August. The year-over-year rise was 2.2%, but so far this year average earnings are up at a 2.9% annual rate, consistent with significantly stronger momentum than suggested by the year-over-year pace.