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The August jobs report showed the U.S. unemployment rate rise across the board. Meanwhile, Black workers marked the only demographic to see their labor force participation fall.

The unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage point to 3.7% in August, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nonfarm payrolls came in at 315,000 and fell in line with estimates of 318,000.

While all demographic groups saw the unemployment rate tick up slightly, it rose at a sharper pace for both Hispanic and Black workers to 4.5% and 6.4%, respectively, from 3.9% and 6% in July.

However, Black workers marked the only group that saw labor force participation decline, while their employment-population ratio, which measures what percentage of the population holds a job, also fell.

“There is some volatility in these numbers but seeing a downward trend in employment and participation is worrisome,” said Elise Gould, senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute.

For August, Black labor force participation fell to 61.8% from 62% in July, while the employment-to-population ratio dipped to 57.9% from 58.3%

William Spriggs, chief economist at the AFL-CIO, said that looking at Black workers is one way to gauge what’s really happening among employers.

Black workers across the board face more discrimination than many other groups, which could be one explanation, Spriggs said. A potential slowdown in hiring — as evident through this week’s ADP private payrolls data — could also be contributing to the results.

“When firms slow their hiring rate, that hit Black workers immediately because they’re already in line the longest to try and find a job,” Spriggs said. “What’s happened is the queue’s just gotten longer so the discouraged worker effect is much more acute for Black workers.”

While it’s too early to assign a specific cause to the declining labor force participation among Black workers, Gould said the continued downward trend in recent months may signal something other than “a statistical anomaly.”

That said, the Federal Reserve’s campaign to quickly raise rates to tame surging prices may be causing more damage to the labor market, which tends to appear among historically disadvantaged groups like Black workers.

“Black workers are beginning to feel the brunt of it in a disparate fashion,” said Michelle Holder, a distinguished senior fellow at Washington Center for Equitable Growth. “Now, this is one report, but I pretty much believe that this is going to be the pattern over the next few months, particularly if the Fed continues to aggressively implement its approach.”

Like others, Holder agrees that it’s too early to attribute a cause to the decline in Black labor force participation, but she did call attention to rising unemployment among Black female workers.

The group saw its unemployment rate rise from 5.3% in July to 5.9%. In comparison, white female workers saw their unemployment rate tick up to 2.8% from 2.6%.

Hispanic female workers also experienced a sharp increase in their unemployment rate, rising to 4.3% from 3.2% in the prior month.

While the jobless rate did rise at a faster clip among Hispanic workers compared to white workers and the overall jobs market, that group’s labor force participation rate and employment trend seem to mimic the broader market, Gould said.

“We’re seeing this rise in unemployment as accompanied by a significant increase in participation and then an uptick as well in employment,” she said. “I think that’s a hopeful sign. The fact that the unemployment rate moves up is not a troubling thing on its own.”

— CNBC’s Gabriel Cortes contributed to this report.

“Quiet quitting” is having a moment.

The trend of employees choosing to not go above and beyond their jobs in ways that include refusing to answer emails during evenings or weekends, or skipping extra assignments that fall outside their core duties, is catching on, especially among Gen Zers.

Zaid Khan, 24, an engineer from New York, popularized this trend with his viral Tiktok video in July. 

“You are still performing your duties, but you are no longer subscribing to the hustle culture mentally that work has to be our life,” Khan says in his video. “The reality is, it’s not, and your worth as a person is not defined by your labor.”

In the U.S., quiet quitting could also be a backlash to so-called hustle culture — the 24/7 startup grind popularized by figures like Gary Vaynerchuk and others.

“Quiet quitting is an antidote to hustle culture,” said Nadia De Ala, founder of Real You Leadership, who “quietly quit” her job about five years ago. “It is almost direct resistance and disruption of hustle culture. And I think it’s exciting that more people are doing it.”

Last year, the Great Resignation dominated the economic news cycle. Now, during the second half of 2022, it’s the quiet quitting trend that’s gaining momentum at a time when the rate of U.S. productivity is raising some concern. Data on U.S. worker productivity posted its biggest annual drop in the second quarter. 

So, why is this trend on the rise? Watch the video above to learn whether quiet quitting is hurting the U.S. economy and how it’s being seen as part of the Great Resignation narrative.

The August jobs report showed the U.S. unemployment rate rise across the board. Meanwhile, Black workers marked the only demographic to see their labor force participation fall.

The unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage point to 3.7% in August, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nonfarm payrolls came in at 315,000 and fell in line with estimates of 318,000.

While all demographic groups saw the unemployment rate tick up slightly, it rose at a sharper pace for both Hispanic and Black workers to 4.5% and 6.4%, respectively, from 3.9% and 6% in July.

However, Black workers marked the only group that saw labor force participation decline, while the group’s employment-population ratio, which measures what percentage of the population holds a job, also fell.

“There is some volatility in these numbers but seeing a downward trend in employment and participation is worrisome,” said Elise Gould, senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute.

For August, Black labor force participation fell to 61.8% from 62% in July, while the employment to population ratio dipped to 57.9% from 58.3%

William Spriggs, chief economist to the AFL-CIO, said that looking at Black workers is one way to gauge and understand what’s really happening among employers.

Black workers across the board face more discrimination than many other groups, which could be one explanation, he said. A potential slowdown in hiring — as evident through this week’s ADP private payrolls data — could also be a contributor to these results.

“When firms slow their hiring rate, that hit Black workers immediately because they’re already in line the longest to try and find a job,” Spriggs said. “What’s happened is the queue’s just gotten longer so the discouraged worker effect is much more acute for Black workers.

While it’s too early to assign a specific cause to the declining labor force participation among Black workers, Gould said the continued downward trend in recent months may signal something other than “a statistical anomaly.”

That said, the Federal Reserve’s campaign to quickly raise rates to tame surging prices may be causing more damage to the labor market, which tends to appear among historically disadvantaged groups like Black workers.

“Black workers are beginning to feel the brunt of it in a disparate fashion,” said Michelle Holder, a distinguished senior fellow at Washington Center for Equitable Growth. “Now, this is one report, but I pretty much believe that this is going to be the pattern over the next few months, particularly if the Fed continues to aggressively implement its approach.”

Like others, Holder agrees that it’s too early to attribute a cause to the decline in Black labor force participation, but called attention to rising unemployment among Black female workers.

The group saw its unemployment rate rise from 5.3% in July to 5.9%. In comparison, white female workers saw their unemployment rate tick up to 2.8% from 2.6%.

Hispanic female workers also experienced a sharp increase in their unemployment rate, rising to 4.3% from 3.2% in July.

While the unemployment rate did rise at a faster clip among Hispanic workers compared to white workers and the overall jobs market, the group’s labor force participation rate and employment trend seem to mimic the broader market, Gould said.

“We’re seeing this rise in unemployment as accompanied by a significant increase in participation and then uptake as well in employment,” she said. “I think that’s a hopeful sign. The fact that the unemployment rate moves up is not a troubling thing on its own.”

—CNBC’s Gabriel Cortes contributed to this report.

The U.S. economy added another 315,000 payrolls in August, with jobs growth slowing overall but still widespread throughout the economy.

The economy saw growth in all the key sectors and subsectors in August, led by a gain of 68,000 jobs in professional and business services.

“The market will like the broad-based gains in jobs as both goods-producing and services jobs rose in August,” said Jeffrey Roach, the chief economist for LPL Financial.

The strongest areas within professional and business services include computer systems design, management and technical consulting, and architectural and engineering. The sector has now added 1.1 million jobs over the past 12 months, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Health care came in second for the month, with 48,200 jobs added. If health-care jobs were added to education and social services, as some economists do, that broad sector would have matched the 68,000 gain by professional and business services.

Retail trade was another bright spot, growing by 44,000 jobs. That was an acceleration from the 29,100 jobs added in July.

Even though job growth was positive across the board, it was significantly slower in some areas. Leisure and hospitality, for example, added 31,000 jobs in August after growing by 95,000 in July. The sector is still 1.2 million short of its pre-pandemic level.

Transportation and warehousing added just 4,800 jobs after growing by more than 24,000 in July.

Roach also pointed to a rise in part-time workers by 225,000, with 69,000 saying they could not find full-time employment, as a potential area of concern going forward.