The nation’s unemployment rate remained at 5.1 percent in September, and the economy added a worse-than-expected 142,000 jobs last month, according to the Labor Department. In addition to the sharp reduction in the August count, July’s number also was cut from 245,000 to 223,000.
Advertisement
Over the past 3 months, job gains have averaged 167,000 per month. Between January and September past year the economy gained 238,000 jobs. And, no matter how much Fed chair Janet Yellen and the gang want to raise rates, the news is just too bleak to move away from zero at this time.
Even so, many economists are still not seeing the accelerated growth that suggests the economy needs to slow – or that businesses are experiencing wage pressure. Unemployment held at 5.1% and Average Hourly Earnings were unchanged.
In another grim sign, the number of hours worked in the country fell 0.2 percent, raising the spectre that a few broader softness might have gripped the economy last month.
Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, noted that United States of America manufacturing lost 9,000 jobs in September and 19,000 in August.
You may have seen that the unemployment rate stayed steady at 5.1%, and employers added about 150,000 workers to their payrolls.
Mining continued its downward trend last month, losing 10,000 jobs, mostly in support activities (-7,000 jobs).
The Fed has been watching the job market closely for clues about when it would be appropriate to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006.
“Every aspect of the September jobs report was disappointing”, writes Michelle Girard, economist with RBS Securities.
More people have taken themselves out of the labour market, having retired or given up looking for work, meaning the participation rate has dropped to 62.4% – the lowest level it has reached in over 35 years.
Or maybe just the expectation that the Federal Reserve would start increasing interest rates was enough to put a brake on things.
New orders received by USA factories fell 1.7 percent in August, the Commerce Department said in a separate report. Professional services companies added 31,000. “It doesn’t close the door to a Fed hike this year, but it certainly ups the ante for the next month and the month after that”.
A weaker-than-expected report “would chip away at confidence about the strength of the expansion”, Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc.in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said before the report.
Advertisement
The percentage of adults who have a job or are actively looking for one fell to a 38-year low last month.
