‘Wow, wow, wow!’: CNBC host clearly shocked after US economy adds 162,000 jobs — 3X expectations. Bet on America now

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CNBC's Rick Santelli has analyzed countless economic releases during his decades at the network. But the veteran market commentator could barely contain his surprise when the latest U.S. jobs numbers crossed the screen.

"Hold on to your seats, folks," Santelli said (1) during CNBC's live coverage on the morning of Sept. 4. "Nonfarm payrolls for the month of August: up 162,000. That's basically three times what expectations are."

The official numbers confirmed the magnitude of the surprise. The U.S. economy added 162,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in August, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2) — more than three times the 53,000 jobs economists had expected (3).

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The government revised June's gain upward from 20,000 to 31,000 jobs, while July's initially reported loss of 23,000 was transformed into a gain of 21,000. Together, the revisions made employment growth in those two months stronger than previously reported by 55,000 jobs.