U.S. employers added 103,000 jobs in September, a modest burst of hiring after a sluggish summer, but it wasn’t enough to lower the unemployment rate, which stayed at 9.1% for the third straight month. The U.S. Labor Department also reports today that it has revised the previous two months’ figures to reflect stronger hiring than originally estimated. Employers have added an average of just 72,000 jobs in each of the past five months, but the economy must consistently create about twice as many to keep up with population growth. Nearly half of the gains last month were due to the rehiring of 45,000 striking Verizon employees. The private sector added 137,000 jobs in September, up sharply from August but below July’s revised total. Government, meanwhile, shed 34,000 jobs. Local governments primarily cut teachers and other school employees. Job gains in September occurred in construction, retail, temporary help services and health care. Manufacturing cut jobs for the second straight month. The department revised August’s figures to show a gain of 57,000 jobs, up from a previous estimate of zero. July was revised up to 127,000 jobs, from 85,000. More Americans are working part-time but would prefer full-time work. When added to those out of work and have given up looking, the so-called underemployment rate rose to 16.5% in September from 16.2% a month earlier. Read more about today’s jobs report in The New York Times here, and take a look at an interactive survey of how people are feeling about their personal economic outlook and the country’s here. If you want to get up-to-date employment data and economic news releases directly from the U.S. Labor Department, you can download the department’s new app for the iPhone, iPad and Android phones here.
Today’s poll question: How do you feel about your job status, the future of the economy and prospects for the next generation?
