The US economy created a mere 142,000 jobs in September, well below the 12-month average, according to the Labor Department’s job growth report.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged, at 5.1 per cent, close to what the Federal Reserve considers as full-employment.
Job gains in the previous two months were revised by a total of 59,000. August’s employment figures were revised down from 173,000 to 136,000, while job figures from July were revised down from 245,000 to 223,000.
Private employment rose by 118,000, after a 100,000 gain in August. Government payrolls increased by 24,000.
350,000 people dropped out of the labour market. The labour-force participation rate, the percentage of working-age Americans either employed or looking for work, decreased from 62.6 per cent to 62.4 per cent, the lowest level since the late 1970s. The unemployment rate would have risen, if the labour-force participation rate had not fallen.
A positive sign in the September job growth report was that the number of part-time workers who would prefer to have a full-time position fell by 447,000 to 6.04 million.
A stronger dollar and weak demand overseas have affected US exporters. Employment in manufacturing fell by 9,000. The mining and logging sector lost 12,000 jobs, a result of the sharp fall in oil and commodity prices. Health care and social assistance added 36,400 jobs. Employment in leisure and hospitality rose by 35,000. Professional and business services put on 31,000 positions. Retailers hired 23,700 workers. Construction companies created 8,000 jobs.
There is still no any significant pressure on wages. Average hourly earnings, which are closely watched by Fed policymakers, fell slightly from the month before (-1 cent), leaving the annual increase at 2.2 per cent.
The average workweek for all workers on private non-farm payrolls fell to 34.5 hours from 34.6 hours.
The Fed delayed raising interest rates from their near zero levels last month, in part because of the slowing Chinese economy and the turmoil it caused on global financial markets. September’s jobs report casts fresh doubt on whether the Fed will raise short-term interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade at its October monetary-policy meeting, or at its last meeting of the year, in December.
Photo: MTA New York City Transit / Marc A. Hermann
