The work week is ending with some good news for President
Donald Trump, as more records were smashed in Friday's report on September
unemployment.
For the 22nd time since Donald Trump took office, the
number of employed Americans reached a record high last month, climbing 319,000
from August's record 157,878,000 to 158,269,000. At the same time, the number
of unemployed Americans set a Trump-era low at 5,769,000.
Those two strong numbers pushed the nation's unemployment
rate to 3.5 percent in September -- down two-tenths of a point from last month,
and the lowest rate since December 1969.
President Trump hailed the good news on Twitter, with a
twist:
"Breaking News," Trump wrote.
"Unemployment Rate, at 3.5%, drops to a 50 YEAR LOW. Wow America, lets
impeach your President (even though he did nothing wrong!)."
The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said
the economy added 136,000 jobs in September, as employment in health care and
in professional and business services continued to trend up. Employment in
government also continued its upward trend in September, with 22,000 jobs
added. On a negative note, manufacturing employment dropped in September, losing
2,000 jobs.
In September, the civilian non-institutional population
in the United States was 259,638,000. That included all people 16 and older who
did not live in an institution (such as a prison, nursing home or long-term
care hospital). Of that civilian non-institutional population, 164,039,000 were
in the labor force, meaning that they either had a job or were actively seeking
one during the last month.
That produced a labor force participation rate of 63.2
percent, the same as it was in August, and a Trump-era high. The higher this
number, the better.
Of the 164,039,000 who were in the labor force, 5,769,000
were unemployed, which put the unemployment rate at a 50-year low of 3.5
percent.
The unemployment rate for Hispanics, 3.9 percent in
September, has never been this low. The unemployment rate for blacks remained
at the record low of 5.5 percent set in August.
Among the other major worker groups, the unemployment
rate for whites declined to 3.2 percent last month. For adult men, the jobless
rate was 3.2 percent; adult women, 3.1 percent; teenagers, 12.5 percent;
Asians, 2.5 percent.
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for July
was revised up by 7,000 from +159,000 to +166,000, and the change for August
was revised up by 38,000 from +130,000 to +168,000. With these revisions,
employment gains in July and August combined were 45,000 more than previously
reported. After revisions, job gains have averaged 157,000 per month over the
last 3 months.
In September, average hourly earnings for all employees
on private nonfarm payrolls dropped one cent to $28.09, following an 11-cent
rise in August. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased
by 2.9 percent.
The business and economic reporting of
CNSNews.com is funded in part with a gift made in memory of Dr. Keith C. Wold.
__________________
RELATED
ARTICLE
US
unemployment falls to 3.7 percent - lowest since 1969
By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER | Associated
Press
FILE-
In this Sept. 27, 2018, file photo a bilingual help wanted sign for Auto Zone,
a retailer of aftermarket automotive parts and accessories, is posted outside
the store in Canton, Miss. Another healthy picture of hiring is expected when
the U.S. government issues its September jobs report Friday, Oct. 5. (AP
Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
The U.S. unemployment rate fell in September to 3.7
percent, the lowest since 1969, when young men were being drafted to fight in
Vietnam and the American auto industry and the space program were going full
blast.
The Labor Department reported Friday that the rate edged
down from 3.9 percent the month before as employers added 134,000 jobs — a
figure that was probably depressed by the effects of Hurricane Florence in the
South. Still, it extended an extraordinary 8½-year streak of monthly job
growth, the longest on record.
That run has added nearly 20 million people to the
nation's payrolls since the Great Recession, which cost nearly 9 million their
jobs.
The ultra-low jobless rate — the best in nearly 49 years
— reflects a healthy economy driven by strong consumer and business spending.
In fact, hiring is so strong that employers are having trouble filling openings
and some are being forced to offer higher pay.
Despite the similar unemployment rates, today's economy
is vastly different from that of 1969. Back then, one-third of Americans worked
in manufacturing; now it is barely 9 percent. Strong economic growth back then
was propelled by huge government spending on the Vietnam War and newly created
Great Society social programs. And women were much less likely to work.
In reporting September's employment figures, the
government revised sharply upward its estimate of hiring for July and August.
So far this year, monthly job growth has averaged 208,000, compared with
182,000 last year.
"The acceleration in job gains this year is
extraordinary in an environment where firms are having great difficulty finding
qualified candidates," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst
Pierpont Securities.
Most analysts blamed the slower pace of hiring last month
on Florence, which struck North and South Carolina and closed thousands of
businesses.
The category that includes restaurants, hotels and
casinos lost jobs for the first time since September 2017, when Hurricane
Harvey hit the Houston area, and retailers last month shed 20,000 jobs. Many of
those jobs are likely to bounce back in the coming months.
Pay gains remain modest but are showing signs of
accelerating. Average hourly pay in September rose 2.8 percent from a year
earlier.
With unemployment so low, companies are facing intense
pressure to raise pay to land workers. Amazon this week raised its minimum wage
to $15 an hour.
Paul Millman, chief executive of Chroma Technology, has
struggled to find enough machine operators and engineers for his 135-person
company, based in Bellows Falls, Vermont. It makes filters for handheld medical
equipment, food safety test systems, and virtual reality headsets.
The company is doubling the size of one of its plants and
increasingly automating its assembly process because it is so hard-pressed to
find employees. It has also started calling back people who previously applied
for jobs but weren't hired. That has resulted in two new hires.
Financial markets were down sharply in afternoon trading,
with the Dow Jones average falling 202 points in afternoon trading. Investors
have grown concerned about higher interest rates and the effect they might have
on the economy and the stock market.
Friday's jobs report will probably keep the Federal
Reserve on track to raise short-term interest rates, economists said, with
another increase expected in December.
The economy does show some weak spots. Sales of existing
homes have fallen over the past year, held back in part by higher mortgage
rates. Auto sales have also slumped.
Manufacturers, which are more dependent on foreign
markets than other industries, added 18,000 jobs last month, a sign that
President Donald Trump's trade fight with China and other countries is having
little effect on hiring.
…
