According to them, it has been recovering rapidly from softer growth in August despite economic slowdown globally. The unemployment rate remained 5.1 percent, but only because more Americans stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.
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The DOL also revised down the previous two months’ job gains, with the employment gains in July and August combined 59,000 less than previously reported. August job gains were revised downward by 37,000, to 136,000, and July’s figures were reduced by 22,000, to 223,000.
One of the biggest lodestones on America’s economy was in the commodity sector, which has slowed in part because of weaker demand from China. There’s also been bad news from Japan and Europe causing USA job creation to slow. Meanwhile, the U.S. added fewer nonfarm jobs overall than forecast.
Unemployment for the latest generation of veterans ticked up slightly in September from the all-time low recorded in August, yet September’s slightly higher number is still the second-lowest monthly rate ever charted for the group, government data show. “The remaining 1.3 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in September had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities”.
Although the rate of unemployment has held steady the participation of the labor force dropped from 62.6% to 62.4% in September.
Wages still aren’t budging either.
In another disappointing sign, average hourly earnings ticked down 1 cent to $25 09 cents, and are up 2.2% over the past year, roughly in line with the sluggish 2% pace that has prevailed through most of the recovery.
“There is no doubt that the events happening in the rest of the world are affecting the U.S. economy“, White House chief economist Jason Furman told CNBC.
At the same time, the dollar has risen about 15 percent against overseas currencies in the past year, making US goods more expensive overseas and imports less expensive.
The Fed hindered a rate in September after instability in global markets and confirmation of a slowing Chinese economy made policymakers want to be assured that USA was not on the edge of a new slowdown.
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The labor market has been a bright spot in the US economy and the main argument supporting the Federal Reserve’s plan to raise the Fed key interest rates from near zero for the first time in nine years. Market participants in general will look at this number and say this probably pushes out the probability of a Fed tightening to beyond the October meeting.
