Finance & Business
September adds 29,000 jobs; revisions change the picture
FXTrader highlighted September’s U.S. payroll gain of 29,000 and unemployment rising from 4.1% to 4.2%. The BLS October 2 release also revised July and August payroll gains down by a combined 60,000.
July changed from a 21,000 gain to a 10,000 loss; August fell from 162,000 to 133,000. Additional employer reports and recalculated seasonal factors drive revisions. September is preliminary. Gains had averaged 45,000 over the previous twelve months.
Unemployment comes from the household survey; payroll jobs come from the establishment survey. In September the household labor force rose by 485,000, employment by 406,000 and unemployment by 78,000. Participation moved from 61.6% to 61.8%. People entering the labor force can lift unemployment even while employment grows; subtracting the two surveys’ figures is misleading.
Private hourly earnings rose 0.1% monthly and 3.0% annually. Weak payroll growth, downward revisions and labor-force entry coexist. BLS notes unemployment has stayed within 4.1–4.3% since March. One month does not determine a recession or the next interest-rate decision.
Sources and further reading
- Original X post
- BLS · September employment release and tables
- Liz Ann Sonders · Labor-force participation
- Liz Ann Sonders · Payroll revisions
Original post and supporting sources read