In A Sudden Shift, The Economy Added 254,000 Jobs From Harlem To Hawaii

By Consumer Affairs

At a time when jobs are reportedly hard to find, an estimated 254,000 Americans found employment last month.

The Labor Department reports the economy produced that many jobs in September – a much higher than expected number.

The unemployment rate remained at 4.1%.

Despite the unexpected growth in jobs last month, not all of these new positions offered top pay. Bars and restaurants added the most new jobs – 69,000. That’s a big increase over the 14,000 jobs that category had averaged over the last few months.

Healthcare continued to add jobs as well. Health care added 45,000 jobs in September, below the average monthly gain of 57,000 over the prior 12 months. Over the month, employment rose by 13,000 in home health care services, 12,000 at hospitals, and 9,000 at nursing and residential care facilities.

Other industries that saw strong September job growth were:

• Government, adding 31,000 jobs
• Social assistance, adding 27,000 jobs
• Construction, adding 25,000 jobs

Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade;  transportation and warehousing; information; financial activities; professional and business services; and other services.

Other data point to slower hiring

But the jobs numbers run counter to other data. Axios reports U.S. hiring rates are the lowest in over a decade.  The report, based on a survey of company CEOs, describes the labor market as “no hire, no fire,” with companies hesitant to expand their payrolls because of economic uncertainty. 

The hiring rate fell to 3.3% in August, the slowest pace since October 2013, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. If the Labor Department report is correct, that suddenly changed in September.