Job growth cooled notably last month while the unemployment rate rose to the highest since 2021, fanning concerns the labor market may be on the cusp of a more significant deterioration.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 22,000 in August, and revisions showed employment shrank in June for the first time since 2020. The jobless rate ticked up to 4.3%, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report out Friday.

Traders solidified bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its Sept. 16-17 meeting, which Chair Jerome Powell signaled in a speech last month during the central bank’s annual Jackson Hole symposium. The S&P 500 reversed earlier gains and Treasuries rallied.

The figures heighten concerns about the durability of the labor market after the prior month’s report showed a shoc

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