Over the year, this industry has added 349,000 jobs. “The final blow was the realization that the jobs market was weaker than previously reported, as August and July job gains were revised substantially lower, contrary to a widely anticipated sizable upgrade for August”.
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However, the unemployment rate held steady at 5.1%. Last year, job growth averaged 260,000 per month. The temporary help sector added just 4,600 jobs, bringing the total loss in the sector over the last three months to 100 jobs.
The grim figures fuelled fears that the China-led global economic slowdown is hurting America and could force the Federal Reserve to leave rates on hold. “This is more than enough to keep the Fed on the sidelines in October”. The FOMC has two meetings left this year, in late October and mid-December.
Given the market’s reaction to September’s report, it’s unlikely that he’s as pleased as he thought he would be. This was in much less than the 200,000-plus jobs that mainstream economists expected.
Payrolls rose less than projected in September, wages stagnated and the jobless rate was unchanged as people left the workforce, signalling the global slowdown and financial-market turmoil are rippling through the world’s largest economy. Fed officials thus likely will be reluctant to drop their plan to raise interest rates this year.
The disappointing numbers come despite a few recent data pointing to a healthy economy: Sales of new USA homes have jumped to a seven-year high, and auto sales soared almost 16 percent in September to the highest level in a decade. Annual increases in pay have stuck to a tight range of 1.9% to 2.2% since 2012, well below the normal pace at this stage of an economic cycle. Department of Labor reported today.
Muted wage growth, an indicator of weak hiring demand, also slowed a bit.
But other details pointed to underlying weakness. They were up 2.2% from a year earlier, consistent with the sluggish trend throughout the expansion.
The civilian labor force participation rate subsequently declined to 62.4% in September, hitting its lowest level since 1977. The number of discouraged workers, those not looking for work because they believe no jobs are available, was 635,000, little changed from a year ago.
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White-collar professional and business jobs increased 31,000. Mining employment contracted in July, August and September; manufacturing employment contracted in August and September. It includes anyone who wants a full-time job but can’t find one, including part-time workers.
