September jobs report falls below expectations

“The September jobs report was a troubling one, as job growth fell below expectations and thousands left the workforce,” said NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long. Non-farm payrolls rose 661,000 during the month, and while the unemployment rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 7.9 percent, the labor participation rate also fell – dropping 0.3 percentage points to 61.4 percent.

“In all, the labor force shrunk by nearly 700,000 workers in September, 89 percent of which were female,” Long said in a new Macro Data Flash report, noting that the drop in female labor participation coincided with the start of the school year. “Meanwhile, the ranks of the unemployed continue to tilt away from temporary layoffs and toward permanent ones; the latter group swelled by 350,000 during the month.

With those additions, permanent job losers represent 2.3 percent of the labor force, which is just over half the peak during the Great Recession. It was not until 2017 that the figure returned to its pre-crisis level,” he added.

Results among the major industries showed modest gains in most sectors, led by services growth. Leisure and hospitality gained 61,000 jobs, as did education and health services. Professional and business services (+25,000 jobs) and construction (+16,000) also saw gains.

 

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