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Unemployment Rate Reaches Highest Level in Nearly Four Years
Combined July and August Payrolls Revised Down by 33,000
(New York=Yonhap Infomax) Jin Woo Choi—US nonfarm payrolls in September exceeded market expectations, signaling continued resilience in the labor market despite signs of cooling.
On the 20th (local time), the US Department of Labor announced that nonfarm payrolls increased by 119,000 in September from the previous month.
This figure is more than double the market consensus of 50,000.
However, July’s nonfarm payroll gain was revised down from 79,000 to 72,000, while August’s figure was revised from 22,000 to -4,000, turning negative. As a result, combined job gains for July and August were 33,000 lower than previously reported.
The unemployment rate in September rose to 4.4%, above the forecast of 4.3%, marking the highest level since October 2021 (4.5%). This is a 0.1 percentage point increase from the previous month (4.3%).
The labor force participation rate stood at 62.4%, up 0.1 percentage point from the prior month.
The Department of Labor noted, “Employment continued to grow steadily in healthcare, food and beverage services, and social assistance, while jobs declined in transportation and warehousing as well as the federal government.”
Healthcare added 43,000 jobs, in line with the 12-month average of 42,000. Within healthcare, ambulatory health care services saw an increase of 23,000 jobs, and hospitals added 16,000.
Food and beverage services gained 37,000 jobs, while social assistance rose by 14,000.
Conversely, transportation and warehousing lost 25,000 jobs, and federal government employment decreased by 3,000.
Average hourly earnings for nonfarm employees rose 0.2% to $36.67. Average weekly hours remained unchanged at 34.2 hours.
The Department of Labor will not release an employment report for October. The November employment report is scheduled for December 16.
jwchoi@yna.co.kr
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