In figures that have just been released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were a total of 263,000 new non-farm jobs added in the month of September.
In figures that have just been released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were a total of 263,000 new non-farm jobs added in the month of September. This took the unemployment rate down slightly to 3.5% from 3.6% last month.
This sees the unemployment rate head back down to the same level as was experienced in July. This is the opposite direction to the Fed’s recent projections which had suggested that unemployment would creep up to an average of 3.8% for the duration of 2022.
While job growth is heading in the right direction, it has slowed from 2021. The average new jobs added each month was 562,000 last year, which has decreased down to an average of 420,000 so far in 2022.
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Jobs in health care rose by 60,000 over the month and this interestingly takes the labor figures back to the level they were at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic back in February 2020.
Employment in professional and business services remained strong in September and added 46,000 new jobs. This continues a trend which has been the sector adding an average of 72,000 new payrolls each month so far this year.
Other major movers this month were temporary help services which created 27,000 new jobs for the month, manufacturing (22,000), construction (19,000) and wholesale trade (11,000).
It wasn’t smooth sailing across the board though, with multiple sectors contracting throughout the month. Financial activities reduced headcount by 8,000 jobs, transportation and warehousing lost 8,000 jobs in the month of September.
A common narrative over the past 12 months has been one of a tight labor market, but with workers still feeling the pinch of rising prices.
