When the Bureau of Labor Statistics dropped its employment figures for August showing a gain of 162,000 nonfarm payrolls, Wall Street let out a collective gasp of surprise. Economists polled beforehand had penciled in a meager 65,000 increase. Naturally, headlines rushed to declare that the American labor market was bouncing back with unstoppable momentum while the unemployment rate held firm at 4.1 percent. Dig past the top-line figures and a more complicated reality emerges. The economy added jobs, sure, but the distribution tells a story of an uneven recovery where low-wage service sectors and government hiring did most of the heavy lifting.
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