National unemployment rate ticks down in August

The U.S. unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a point to 5.1 percent in August, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Last month, employers nationwide added an aggregate 173,000 jobs. Leading industries were health care and social assistance, professional and business services, food services and drinking places, and financial activities, according to a news release.

Health care and social assistance employers created 56,000 jobs in August. Health care employment rose by 41,000 positions, while social assistance added another 16,000 to the market.

Employment in professional and business activities rose by 33,000 last month, contributing to a 641,000-job increase for the year, according to the release.

In food services and drinking places, employers added 26,000 jobs in August, below the average monthly gain of 31,000 during the past 12 months.

Financial activities employers grew job ranks by 19,000, led by real estate, at 8,000, and securities, commodity contracts and investments, at 5,000, according to the release.

Offsetting industries were manufacturing, which decreased its employment ranks by 17,000 in August, and mining, which fell by 9,000 jobs.

As of Aug. 31, the number of unemployed in the U.S. was 8 million, a 1.5 million-person decrease from a year earlier. Those marginally attached to the labor force - available for work and looking - totaled 1.8 million, down 329,000 from a year earlier, according to the release.

The latest data from the BLS reported the Missouri unemployment rate at 5.9 percent in July and the Springfield metropolitan statistical area jobless rate at 5.1 percent that month, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.