Labor Market Overview - The proportion of small businesses hiring or attempting to hire has decreased to 53%, down 4 percentage points from July, indicating a cooling demand for labor [3] - Overall U.S. hiring fell last month, with unemployment rising to 4.3% and employers adding only 22,000 jobs in August, which was below forecasts [4] - The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a potential revision of job growth, with payroll growth likely to be cut by 911,000, or 0.6% [3][4] Consumer Sentiment - Consumer outlook on the labor market has worsened, with the perceived probability of job loss in the next 12 months increasing to 14.5%, which is 0.5 percentage points above the 12-month average [5] - The probability of consumers finding a job after losing their current employment dropped to 44.9%, a decline of 5.8 percentage points compared to July [6] Small Business Optimism - Despite weak labor demand, optimism among small businesses increased slightly in August, driven by expectations of higher sales and improved earnings [7] - The percentage of small business owners facing difficulties in filling jobs decreased to 32%, down 1 percentage point from July [7] - Labor quality remains a significant concern for small business owners, despite improvements in overall business health [7]