Temporary help jobs edged up by only 100 in August from July, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Today’s revised data also decreased July’s previously reported gain of 14,700 US temp jobs to 10,100.

“At first glance, temporary agency employment was soft for the month, with growth of only 100 jobs,” said Tony Gregoire, director of research, the Americas, at Staffing Industry Analysts. “However, once revisions to the two prior months are taken into account, the number of temporary help jobs is actually 3,700 higher than the level reported last month.”

The year-over-year growth rate in temp jobs was 4.33% in August, down from 4.37% in July but still the fourth-largest year-over-year growth rate since June 2015.

The temp penetration rate — temp jobs as a percent of total employment — edged down to 2.070% in August from 2.072% in July.

Total nonfarm jobs rose by 156,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4% in August from 4.3% in July. The college-level unemployment rate — which can serve as a proxy for professional employment — remained at 2.4% in August.

The report was less positive than others in recent months, with major components either little changed or below estimates, according to Bloomberg, which had estimated a gain of 180,000 jobs. The private service-providing jobs that have driven hiring for most of the year showed a cooling in August, with gains of 95,000 at a five-month low. By comparison, manufacturing and construction were robust. Wage growth was held back by declines in hourly earnings in mining and manufacturing.

Expect Hurricane Harvey’s fallout in the Houston region will begin to affect the data in coming weeks, Bloomberg reported. While the storm may depress payrolls at first, jobs will probably get a subsequent boost as construction and utility workers help rebuild housing and infrastructure.

The Conference Board noted that even though August’s numbers were softer than those of recent months, labor market conditions remain strong overall.

“One of the most notable changes in the August reading is that goods producing industries created nearly as many new jobs as services, a change from services-led job growth which has prevailed throughout the current expansion,” The Conference Board stated. “Manufacturing, mining, and construction all featured stronger job gains than had been the pattern recently.  Notably, job growth slowed in the healthcare and education sectors which had been key sources of labor market strength so far in 2017.”

With both inflation and wage growth contained for the time being, the Federal Reserve will likely normalize interest rates slowly, perhaps waiting until 2018 before boosting rates again, according to The Conference Board.

Record-low unemployment levels will force many US employers to get even more creative and strategic in their attempt to find qualified candidates for highly-skilled positions, according to Randstad Sourceright CEO Rebecca Henderson. Venture capital is being invested in new human resource technology, which last year totaled nearly $2 billion globally. As unemployment continues to contract, Henderson expects see even more use of technology to identify and attract top talent.

“We are already seeing the rapid adoption of human resource technology to overcome the scarcity of skilled talent,” Henderson said in a statement. “According to our most recent survey of US employers, more than half report making moderate to significant investments in new recruitment and talent management technologies, like advanced online candidate assessment tools and dashboards that help recruiters better interpret HR analytics.”

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