Washington.- U.S. employers added 254,000 jobs in September, a surprisingly strong number that eases concerns about a weakening labor market and indicates that the pace of hiring remains strong enough to support a growing economy.
Last month’s increase was much higher than what economists expected, and increased significantly compared to the 159,000 jobs added in August. And after growing for most of 2024, the unemployment rate fell for the second straight month, from 4.2% in August to 4.1% in September, the Labor Department said Friday.
The latest figures indicate that many businesses remain confident enough to hire, despite the continued pressure of high interest rates.
In an encouraging sign, the Labor Department also updated its estimate for job growth in July and August to a combined 72,000. Including those revisions, September’s job gain — analysts had only forecast about 140,000 — means job growth has averaged a solid 186,000 over the past three months. In August, the quarterly average was only 140 thousand.
“There is still more momentum than we thought,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at banking firm Santander, referring to the labor market. “I would rate it as solid — certainly not as explosive as we saw last year or the year before that, when we were recovering from the pandemic. But the pace of job growth in general is very healthy.”
The employment increase in September was quite widespread, which is a good trend if it continues. Restaurants and bars added 69 thousand jobs. Health care companies increased by 45,000, government agencies by 31,000, social assistance employers by 27,000 and construction companies by 25,000. A category that includes professional and business services added 17,000 after losing jobs for three consecutive months.
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