September 2015 Jobs Report

Unemployment Rate: 5.1 percent

Unemployed Americans: 7.9 million

Employment and Unemployment

1. The U.S economy posted another month of weaker-than-anticipated job growth, coupled with adjustments that showed weaker job growth than previously reported over the summer.   
2. The Department of Labor reported an unemployment rate of 5.1 percent for September, unchanged from last month. It reported an increase of 142,000 nonfarm jobs in September. Economists had expected job growth in September to be 200,000. Employment for July was revised down from 245,000 to 223,000 jobs created; and August was revised down from 173,000 to 136,000. Fifty-nine thousand fewer jobs were created in the prior two months than originally reported.
3. Job growth has averaged 167,000 over the past three months. In 2014, job growth averaged 260,000 a month.
4. Unemployment in September among those ages 16-19 was 16.3 percent, down 0.6 percentage point from last month. Among those 20-24, the unemployment rate was 9.1 percent, up 0.2 percentage point from September. For African-Americans, the unemployment rate was 9.2 percent, down from 9.5 percent.
5. The number of long-term unemployed, those unemployed for 27 weeks or more, was 2.1 million, accounting for 26.6 percent of the unemployed, down from 27.7 percent in the prior month.
6. The “real” unemployment or U-6 rate is 10.0 percent, down 0.3 percentage point from August. This is the total percentage of unemployed and underemployed workers.
7. The “real” number of unemployed Americans is 15.8 million. These are people who are unemployed (7.9 million), want work but have stopped searching for a job (1.9 million), or are working part time because they cannot find full time employment (6.0 million).
8. In September, employment grew by 34,000 in health care; 31,000 in professional and business services; and 24,000 in retail trade. There was little to no change in employment in construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, and government. Employment in mining fell by 10,000 in September, and has declined by 102,000 since December 2014. 

Labor Force Participation

1. The labor force participation rate is 62.4 percent, down 0.2 percentage point from last month and the lowest level in nearly 38 years. The persistently low labor force participation rate shows that millions of Americans are staying on the sidelines. Since April 2014, the participation rate had been stuck in a narrow range of 62.6 and 62.9 percent. Prior to the recession, the rate stood at 66 percent. 
2. If the labor force participation rate were the same as when President Obama took office, the unemployment rate would be 9.9 percent.
3. The share of American adults with jobs in September was 59.2 percent, up 0.2 from August. This is about four percentage points below its pre-recession peak.
4. The Federal Reserve has been weighing whether to raise its short-term interest rate for the first time in almost a decade. The rate has remained near zero since 2008 in an effort to boost the economy. A rate increase was anticipated at their September meeting, however the Federal Reserve noted that it “anticipates that it will be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate when it has seen some further improvement in the labor market.” The Fed will meet October 27-28. 

Wages

1. In September, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls fell by one cent to $25.09. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by only 2.2 percent.
2. September was the 74th straight month that year-over-year hourly wage growth has been below 2.5 percent. Prior to the recession, wage growth routinely exceeded three percent.