September 2019 Jobs Report

Unemployment Rate: 3.5 percent

Jobs Created: 136,000

Employment and Unemployment

1. The Department of Labor reported the unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage point to 3.5% in September.

2. Nonfarm jobs grew by 136,000 in September. Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal had expected 145,000 jobs.

3. Combined job growth for July and August was stronger than originally reported. Labor revised the job creation numbers up for those months by a combined 45,000 jobs.  

4. The U-6 unemployment rate, a measure that also includes part-time and discouraged workers, fell 0.3 percentage point to 6.9%.

Labor Force Participation

1. The labor force participation rate, the share of people employed or looking for work, remained at 63.2%.

Wages

1. In September, average hourly earnings for all employees in private nonfarm jobs decreased by 1 cent to $28.09, following an 11-cent increase in August. They are up 2.9% from a year ago.