US job growth slows to lowest level

The US overall unemployment rate dropped slightly to 6.1 percent in August, the latest official figures showed.
The US economy added 142,000 jobs in August, and the unemployment rate edged down to 6.1 percent, the Labor Department said Friday, Global Post reported.
The unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent in August from July's 6.2 percent, largely because more people without jobs gave up looking for one and were no longer counted as unemployed.
The nonfarm payroll jobs added just 142,000 last month, below the market expectation of above 200,000. The seasonally adjusted August figure was a drop-off from the 12-month average of 212,000 added jobs and marked the smallest job gains in eight months.
July's gain was revised up slightly to an increase of 212,000 from the previous estimate of 209,000, while June's increase was revised down to 267,000 from the earlier estimate of 298,000.
In August, the number of long-term unemployed, or those jobless for 27 weeks or more, declined by 192,000 to 3 million, accounting for 31.2 percent of the unemployed.