{"id":88197,"date":"2019-10-04T10:17:54","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T17:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=88197"},"modified":"2019-10-04T10:17:54","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T17:17:54","slug":"136000-jobs-added-as-unemployment-rate-drops-to-51-year-low-of-3-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=88197","title":{"rendered":"136,000 Jobs Added as Unemployment Rate Drops to 51 Year Low of 3.5%"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington, DC…The unemployment rate declined to 3.5 percent in September, and total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 136,000, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment in health care and in professional and business services continued to trend up. This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical Note.<\/p>\n

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Household Survey Data<\/p>\n

In September, the unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 3.5 percent.
\nThe last time the rate was this low was in December 1969, when it also was 3.5 percent.
\nOver the month, the number of unemployed persons decreased by 275,000 to 5.8 million.
\n(See table A-1.)<\/p>\n

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for Whites declined to 3.2
\npercent in September. The jobless rates for adult men (3.2 percent), adult women
\n(3.1 percent), teenagers (12.5 percent), Blacks (5.5 percent), Asians (2.5 percent),
\nand Hispanics (3.9 percent) showed little or no change over the month. (See tables A-1,
\nA-2, and A-3.)<\/p>\n

Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary
\njobs declined by 304,000 to 2.6 million in September, while the number of new entrants
\nincreased by 103,000 to 677,000. New entrants are unemployed persons who never
\npreviously worked. (See table A-11.)<\/p>\n

In September, the number of persons unemployed for less than 5 weeks fell by 339,000
\nto 1.9 million. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more)
\nwas little changed at 1.3 million and accounted for 22.7 percent of the unemployed.
\n(See table A-12.)<\/p>\n

The labor force participation rate held at 63.2 percent in September. The employment-
\npopulation ratio, at 61.0 percent, was little changed over the month but was up by
\n0.6 percentage point over the year. (See table A-1.)<\/p>\n

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to
\nas involuntary part-time workers) was essentially unchanged at 4.4 million in September.
\nThese individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time
\nbecause their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.
\n(See table A-8.)<\/p>\n

In September, 1.3 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down by
\n278,000 from a year earlier. (Data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were
\nnot in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job
\nsometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not
\nsearched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)<\/p>\n

Among the marginally attached, there were 321,000 discouraged workers in September,
\nlittle changed from a year earlier. (Data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged
\nworkers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are
\navailable for them. The remaining 978,000 persons marginally attached to the labor
\nforce in September had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or
\nfamily responsibilities. (See table A-16.)<\/p>\n

Establishment Survey Data<\/p>\n

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 136,000 in September. Job growth has
\naveraged 161,000 per month thus far in 2019, compared with an average monthly gain
\nof 223,000 in 2018. In September, employment continued to trend up in health care and in
\nprofessional and business services. (See table B-1.)<\/p>\n

In September, health care added 39,000 jobs, in line with its average monthly gain over
\nthe prior 12 months. Ambulatory health care services (+29,000) and hospitals (+8,000)
\nadded jobs over the month. <\/p>\n

Employment in professional and business services continued to trend up in September
\n(+34,000). The industry has added an average of 35,000 jobs per month thus far in 2019,
\ncompared with 47,000 jobs per month in 2018. <\/p>\n

Employment in government continued on an upward trend in September (+22,000). Federal
\nhiring for the 2020 Census was negligible (+1,000). Government has added 147,000 jobs
\nover the past 12 months, largely in local government. <\/p>\n

Employment in transportation and warehousing edged up in September (+16,000). Within the
\nindustry, job growth occurred in transit and ground passenger transportation (+11,000)
\nand in couriers and messengers (+4,000). <\/p>\n

Retail trade employment changed little in September (-11,000). Within the industry,
\nclothing and clothing accessories stores lost 14,000 jobs, while food and beverage stores
\nadded 9,000 jobs. Since reaching a peak in January 2017, retail trade has lost 197,000
\njobs. <\/p>\n

Employment in other major industries, including mining, construction, manufacturing,
\nwholesale trade, information, financial activities, and leisure and hospitality, showed
\nlittle change over the month. <\/p>\n

In September, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls,
\nat $28.09, were little changed (-1 cent), after rising by 11 cents in August. Over the
\npast 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 2.9 percent. In September, average
\nhourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 4 cents
\nto $23.65. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)<\/p>\n

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.4
\nhours in September. In manufacturing, the average workweek and overtime remained at 40.5
\nhours and 3.2 hours, respectively. The average workweek of private-sector production and
\nnonsupervisory employees held at 33.6 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)<\/p>\n

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for July was revised up by 7,000 from
\n+159,000 to +166,000, and the change for August was revised up by 38,000 from +130,000 to
\n+168,000. With these revisions, employment gains in July and August combined were 45,000
\nmore than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received
\nfrom businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the
\nrecalculation of seasonal factors.) After revisions, job gains have averaged 157,000 per
\nmonth over the last 3 months.<\/p>\n

_____________
\nThe Employment Situation for October is scheduled to be released on Friday,
\nNovember 1, 2019, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).<\/p>\n