Treasury Department Chief Economist Alan Krueger said Friday that the economy seems to be showing a steady pattern of private sector job growth, despite some fluctuations in monthly reports.
Noting that private companies had added 67,000 jobs in August, Krueger said the figure was higher than what many private forecasters had predicted, while estimates from June and July had been revised upward to show 66,000 more jobs than had initially been reported.
"Private sector jobs have now increased for eight straight months," he said. "We've added 763,000 jobs during that time period. By contrast, during the first eight months of 2009 we lost 4.2 million jobs and in the beginning of 2009 we were losing 750,000 jobs a month."
While month-to-month changes in jobs numbers in the private sector have been volatile, Krueger noted that the quarterly averages show a more steady pattern of job gains.
"Over the first eight months of this year, job gains have averaged 95,000 per month," he said. "In the economic expansion from November 2001 through January 2007, private sector jobs rose by 80,000 per month."
He added, "The pace of job growth so far this year slightly exceeds private sector job growth in the last expansion, even though it remains less than we would like."
The report also has additional hopeful signs, Krueger said, pointing to a 19,000 jobs increase in the hard-hit construction sector, which had lost 1.9 million jobs since the recession began.
Because most of the jobs were in heavy and civil engineering construction and non-residential specialty trade, Krueger said it seems likely that infrastructure spending under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act played a role in that growth.
The economic recovery, Krueger added, is also showing hopeful signs in spite of gross domestic progress figures that have recently been revised downward to show slower growth.
The recovery, he said, has some "underlying momentum," and, more promisingly, is showing signs of a normal recovery despite the unusual nature of the downturn.
"We've known that his is not going to be a recovery that moves in a straight line, that there are going to be bumps along the way given the nature of the financial crisis that led to the recession," he said. "The handoff from the government to the private sector is taking place."
He added, "I think today's report is reassuring."
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.