Nonfarm payrolls rose by 156,000, below the median estimate of 180,000 in a Bloomberg survey of economists, and revisions for the prior two months subtracted 41,000 jobs, according to Labor Department data. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent from 4.3 percent.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.1 percent from the prior month, below the median projection for a 0.2-percent gain, and the annual rate of 2.5 percent was also less than expected. July wages were unrevised at a 0.3-percent monthly increase.

One bright spot was manufacturing, where payroll gains of 36,000 matched the highest in five years.

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