August Jobs Surge: Made in America Powers Hiring

President Donald J. Trump's agenda is working - and the latest jobs report proves it. Factories are hiring, construction is booming, wages are rising, and the private sector - not government - is driving the boom.

Here's what you need to know:

• Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: The U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs in August - nearly triple economists' expectations (again) - for the second-largest monthly gain of President Trump's second term.
• Main Street Wins: More than one million private-sector jobs have been created in President Trump's second term, while federal employment remains at its lowest share of the workforce on record.
• Factory Comeback: After years of Biden-era decline, manufacturers added 16,000 jobs last month - the strongest monthly gain in three years - and 58,000 jobs this year, powered by huge demand for pharmaceutical and defense production, data center construction, and semiconductor plants.

• Construction Boom: Construction added 22,000 jobs last month, with factory construction jobs up nearly 100,000 in President Trump's second term as companies make products in America again.
• Opportunity Rising: Labor force participation increased at its strongest level in almost a year last month.College graduate unemployment remains a rock-solid 2.7%, while black unemployment posted its second monthly decline.
• Paychecks Climbing: Private-sector workers saw average weekly earnings rise last month - up 3.7% over the year.

Here's what they're saying:

• National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett: "It's a really blockbuster number… Tariffs are making people onshore activity; the expensing is making people want to invest like crazy, and that's creating construction jobs and also beginning to show up in factory jobs."
• Council of Economic Advisers Chair Chris Phelan: "The manufacturing boom - the non-residential construction boom - is real, and it's showing up in the data. It's showing up in the data for capital expenditures. It's showing up in the jobs data."
• Navy Federal Credit Union Chief Economist Heather Long: "What a 'wow' jobs report."
• Fitch Ratings Head of U.S. Economics Olu Sonola: "This is an unequivocally strong report…"
• CNBC's Rick Santelli: "Manufacturing jobs - the renaissance continues."
• Bloomberg's Enda Curran: "Woah, that is a huge number."
• Economist E.J. Antoni: "YUGE beat on jobs in Aug, not only b/c payrolls jumped 217k, but also b/c the number of folks employed roared higher by 569k and those not in the labor force dipped more than half a million; people flooded back into the labor market and were able to get jobs"
• Economist Steve Moore: "It's blue-collar jobs - construction and manufacturing. We're building things again in America."
• Fwdbonds Chief Economist Chris Rupkey: "Net, net, the labor market is alive and well and generating thousands of new jobs to help keep economic growth squarely in the plus column."
• Economist Mohamed A. El-Erian: "The latest US jobs report came in significantly stronger than expected across both sides of the labor market: demand and supply… Together, these indicators point to a US labor market that remains robust with firm demand and is stabilization on the supply side."
• KPMG Chief Economist Diane Swonk: "This is a summer heat wave."
• Bloomberg Senior Editor Chris Anstey: "Oooh a big blowout number for payrolls!"
• Carson Group Chief Macro Strategist Sonu Varghese: "August payrolls were strong across the board, including in cyclical sectors like construction and manufacturing."
• CNN Senior Reporter Matt Egan: "The US economy adding 162,000 jobs last month - that more than doubled the consensus forecast… In fact, this most jobs that the economy has added in a month since March."