The U.S. economy added jobs in September amid uncertainty about economic conditions, but job creation levels remained relatively subdued and added to signs of a weakening labor market.
The Labor Department on Thursday reported that employers added 119,000 jobs in September, a figure that was above the estimate of economists polled by LSEG.
The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in September, which was higher than economists’ expectations.
Originally scheduled for release on Oct. 3, the September jobs report was delayed by a month and a half because of the 43-day government shutdown, which furloughed workers at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) who are responsible for compiling the report.
Job gains in the prior two months were both revised in the September report, with job creation in July revised down by 7,000 from a gain of 79,000 to 72,000; while August job creation for August was revised down by 26,000 from a gain of 22,000 to a loss of 4,000.
Taken together, employment in July and August combined was 33,000 lower than previously reported.
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Private payrolls added 97,000 jobs in September, which was above the LSEG estimate of 62,000.
Government payrolls expanded by 22,000 jobs in September after declining by the same amount in August. State governments added 16,000 jobs and local governments added 9,000 jobs, while the federal government shed 3,000 jobs in September.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that federal employment is down by 97,000 jobs since reaching a peak in January. It also noted that federal workers on paid leave or receiving ongoing severance pay are counted as employed in the agency’s establishment survey.
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The manufacturing sector lost 6,000 jobs in September, a smaller drop than the 8,000 loss estimated by LSEG economists. Overall, the manufacturing sector is down 94,000 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis from a year ago.
Healthcare businesses added 43,000 jobs in September, which was slightly higher than the 12-month average of 42,000 over the last year, led by gains in ambulatory healthcare services (+23,000) and hospitals (+16,000).
Food services and drinking places added 37,000 jobs in September, while the social assistance industry gained 14,000 jobs for the month.
Transportation and warehousing shed 25,000 jobs in September, driven by losses in warehousing and storage (-11,000) and couriers and messengers (-7,000).
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The labor force participation rate was 62.4% in September, having changed little over the month and the past year. The employment-population ratio was also little changed in September at 59.7% – though it’s down 0.4 percentage points over the last year.
The number of long-term unemployed, defined as being jobless for 27 weeks or more, changed little at 1.8 million in September. The long-term unemployed accounted for 23.6% of all unemployed people for the month.
Workers who were employed part-time for economic reasons changed little at 4.6 million in September. These individuals would’ve preferred full-time employment but were working part-time because their hours were reduced, or they were unable to find full-time jobs.
The number of multiple jobholders increased by 17,000 in September and represented 5.4% of total employment for the month.
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The delayed September jobs report comes as the Federal Reserve is weighing whether to cut interest rates for the third consecutive meeting in December, amid uncertainty over the labor market and inflation.
Policymakers opted for 25 basis point cuts at their meetings in September and October despite inflation remaining above their 2% target rate and rising, due to concerns about the job market.
Nancy Vanden Houten, lead economist at Oxford Economics, said that the “September jobs report may be backward-looking but offers reassurance that the labor market wasn’t crumbling before the government shutdown. There is nothing in the data to warrant a chance to our forecast for the Federal Reserve to leave rates unchanged at the December meeting.”
The BLS announced that the October jobs report won’t be released on a standalone basis, as the agency’s workers were unable to compile a key portion of the report during the government shutdown. It will instead include some October data in the November jobs report when it’s released next month.
