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Amidst the data pointing to an improving economy, statistics involving the employment of Americans failed to meet expectations as of August 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Unemployment rate slumped to 6.1% but hiring was less than the 225,000projections by economists.

There were only 142,000 jobs added as of August 2014, the statistics reveal, which consisted of 47,000 new hires for business and professional, 34,000 for health care and 22,000 more restaurant job vacancies. Wage was generally up by 6 cents an hour, which represented a 2.1% wage raise on an annualized basis.The data also showed that full time work was up at 127,000, matched by a decline in the number of part-time work at 327,000.

The recent data had the government scrambling for answers, particularly as strategies were put in place to ensure a considerable improvement in job creation and hiring. To many, the low digits on hiring refuted the “economic rebound” being touted by the government.

For years, Americans felt the pangs of the global economic meltdown. Small businesses and franchises in the U.S. either froze or were forced to shut down due meltdown within the recession months that started in late 2007. While the period of economic struggle for industry players, it also took its toll on typical employees, many of whom lost their jobs.

The recession was said to have ended in June 2009, but the economy continues to recover. Entrepreneurs are gaining back the confidence to explore their options – which weren’t too promising within the span of the 18-month recession.Banks and lenders are now more welcoming to entrepreneurs, and capitalists are slowly opening their doors to prospective investments.

Nevertheless, Americans are still feeling the pain, so to speak, with still several of them unable to get back on their feet. For many of them, the recession permanently changed the standard of living and the challenges – in the midst of claims of economic recovery – still exist.

The underwhelming decrease in hiring as of August 2014 may just be one proof of it.

Joseph Lake, American analyst for The Economist Intelligence Unit, isn’t completely convinced the statistics were something to be pessimistic about. Calling the findings “a surprise and a disappointment,” Lake was confident they “[did not indicate] a slowdown in the U.S. economy.”

CNBC has the details:

Job growth cooled in August, with nonfarm payrolls adding just 142,000 even as the unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent, according to the Labor Department. The fall in the headline rate came as labor-force participation fell, declining to 62.8 percent, or 64,000 workers, tying the 2014 bottom and remaining at the lowest level since 1978.

Economists expected payroll growth of 225,000 in August following July’s upwardly revised 212,000. The unemployment rate was forecast to drop to 6.1 percent from 6.2 percent.

August’s numbers are a notoriously volatile set, with 2013’s initially reported 169,000 ultimately revised up to 238,000. In 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics initially said net job creation was zero, only to push that figure up to 104,000 by the time all was said and done.

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