WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. unemployment rate edged down to 8.1 percent in August with modest job gains, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The nonfarm sector added 96,000 new jobs last month, falling short of the 125,000 level for the month that economists expected.
The decline in the jobless rate in August followed a rise in July to 8.3 percent. The unemployment rate has held in a narrow range of 8.1 percent to 8.3 percent since the beginning of the year.
Businesses added 103,000 jobs across different sectors, but governments slashed 7,000 jobs last month due to spending cuts.
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