Key Points:
- Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 194,000 in September as the unemployment rate fell 0.4% to 4.8%.
- Consensus among economists was a gain of 500,000 jobs.
- This is the lowest gains since December 2020.
- Nonfarm employment is down by 5.7 Million from pre-pandemic levels in February 2020.
- Employment in retail trade increased by 56,000 in September, and is down by 202,000 since February 2020.
- Manufacturing employment rose by 26,000, but is still down 353,000 from its level in February 2020.
- Employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 74,000 in September.
- In September, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 19 cents to $30.85.
- The average workweek for all private employees increased by 0.2 hours to 34.8 hours in September.
- The labor force participation rate was little changed again at 61.6% in September and is 1.7% lower than February 2020.