The U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in September, pointing to a strong employment picture as the unemployment rate eased, the Labor Department reported on Friday.
Nonfarm payrolls rose 254,000 in the month, up from a revised 159,000 in August and better than the Dow Jones consensus forecast of 150,000. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, down 0.1 percentage points.
In an uptick in updates from previous months, the report eased concerns about the state of the labor market and may have locked the Federal Reserve into a gradual path of interest rate cuts. August’s total was revised up by 17,000 while July saw the biggest addition of 55,000, bringing the monthly increase to 144,000.
The strength in job creation also extended to wages, as average hourly earnings rose 0.4% in the month and were up 4% from a year ago. Both figures were ahead of estimates for gains of 0.3% and 3.8%.
Restaurants and bars led job creation this month, while the tourism industry added 69,000 positions in September after averaging 14,000 in the previous 12 months.
Health care, the consistent leader in job growth, contributed 45,000, while government grew by 31,000. Other beneficiaries include social assistance (27,000) and construction (25,000).
The most inclusive measure of unemployment, which includes discouraged workers and those taking part-time jobs for economic reasons, fell to 7.7%. The share of workers either working or looking for work, known as the labor force participation rate, is holding at 62.7%.
The household employment survey, used to calculate the unemployment rate, showed an even stronger picture, with gains of 430,000 as the employment rate rose to 60.2%, up 0.2 percentage points.
This is the best news. Please check back for updates.
Source link
