US Adds 29,000 Jobs in September as Wage Growth Slows to 3.0%
Updated
Updated · CounterPunch · Oct 2
US Adds 29,000 Jobs in September as Wage Growth Slows to 3.0%
3 articles · Updated · CounterPunch · Oct 2
Summary
September payrolls rose by just 29,000, and July-August gains were revised down by 60,000, leaving average job growth at 51,000 over the past three months.
Wage growth slowed to 3.0% year over year and 2.6% on a three-month annualized basis, falling below inflation as the share of unemployment tied to voluntary quits dropped to 10.5%.
Unemployment edged up to 4.2%, though labor-force participation and the prime-age employment-to-population ratio improved, with prime-age EPOP unchanged from a year earlier at 82.7%.
Health care and social assistance supplied 23,000 of the 29,000 new jobs, while restaurants added 10,800; local government lost 13,000, and construction and manufacturing posted modest gains.
Black unemployment rose to 7.0% and the rate for workers aged 20-24 climbed to 8.0%, reinforcing the report's broader signal that the labor market looks weaker than the headline jobless rate suggests.
As job growth stalls and inflation bites, will the Federal Reserve's cautious rate strategy trigger the very recession it aims to avoid?
If layoffs remain historically low despite plunging consumer confidence, how long can employers sustain this fragile balancing act before shedding jobs?
With AI quietly replacing entry-level roles, are recent college graduates facing a permanent lockout from the traditional corporate ladder?