US economy gains 1.4M jobs; unemployment falls to 8.4%

The unemployment rate in the US dropped to 8.4% in August as the economy added 1.4 million jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.

Data reflected the continued resumption of economic activity that was curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it, which pushed job losses to the Great Depression-era levels.

The unemployment rate declined by 1.8% from 10.2% in July and the number of jobless Americans fell by 2.8 million to 13.6 million.

August marks four consecutive months of the decline in both areas.

The unemployment rate fell below 10% for the first time since March.

"In August, an increase in government employment largely reflected temporary hiring for the 2020 Census," the report said, adding notable job gains also occurred in retail, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and education and health services.

After topping 1 million for a second consecutive week, the jobless claims fell to 881,000 -- the lowest numbers since mid-March, according to a Labor Department report Thursday.

The US is the worst-hit country by the pandemic with more than 6.1 million cases and nearly 187,000 fatalities, according to a running tally of Johns Hopkins University. In all, nearly 2.2 million recoveries have been recorded.