United States employment rose by 661,000 in September and the unemployment rate fell to 7.9%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Friday.
United States employment rose by 661,000 in September and the unemployment rate fell to 7.9%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Friday. The Department of Labor reported, “These improvements in the labor market reflect the continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.” In September, the data reflects “notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, in retail trade, in health care and social assistance, and in professional and business services.” This is the final jobs report before the November presidential election. Frustratingly, it shows that the recovery has lost some momentum. Separately, it was reported by the government that personal income fell and consumer spending slowed, as the $600 enhanced supplemental unemployment benefits ended. Marianne Wanamaker, a labor economist at the University of Tennessee, said, “Unfortunately, the layoffs don’t seem to be slowing down, so you’re running up against a really persistent negative drag.” Wanamaker added, “It’s really hard to hire that fast to recover everything you’re losing.” Recently, there were large layoffs planned by major corporations, including Disney letting go 28,000 workers and United Airlines and American Airlines potentially downsizing over 30,000 employees. It looks like the early gains were due to the reopening of businesses and asking the furloughed workers to return to their jobs.
