The Labor Department said Friday that the jobless rate fell to 5.1 percent — a level consistent with a normal economy and the lowest since April 2008 — from 5.3 percent in July.
Though hiring in August was the slowest in five months, the government revised up job growth for June and July by a combined 44,000. From June through August, the economy added a robust 221,000 jobs a month, up from an average of 189,000 from March through May. Three years of solid hiring have put nearly 8 million more Americans to work.
