Think of the jobs report as iceberg math. Payrolls are net hires minus quits/layoffs. Every month around 6M get hired and around 6M leave, +22k is just the cherry on top. Headlines about layoffs are just one slice, the hires rarely make news.

There are two instruments playing: the establishment survey (payrolls) and the household survey (employment/unemployment). These can disagree in any single month. Seasonals and revisions also matter -- August gets revised later; teachers, students, and temp work make the filters twitchy.

Population growth means you need ~150–200k a month just to tread water. I'd say +22k feels weak, not mysterious.