Blog

Economy Gains 194,000 Jobs in September; Unemployment Down to 4.8%

BLS

The U.S. economy gained 194,000 jobs in September, and the unemployment rate declined to 4.8%, according to figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In response to the September job numbers, AFL-CIO Chief Economist William Spriggs tweeted:

 

 

Last month’s biggest job gains were in leisure and hospitality (+74,000), professional and business services (+60,000), retail trade (+56,000), transportation and warehousing (+47,000), information (+32,000), social assistance (+30,000), manufacturing (+26,000), construction (+22,000), wholesale trade (+17,000), and mining (+5,000), while local government education (-144,000), private education (-19,000), health care (-18,000) and state government education (-17,000) saw losses. In September, employment showed little change in other major industries, including financial activities and in other services. 

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for Black Americans (7.9%), adult men (4.7%), adult women (4.2%) and White Americans (4.2%) declined in September. The jobless rates for teenagers (11.5%), Hispanics (6.3%) and Asian Americans (4.2%) showed little change over the month.

The number of long-term unemployed workers (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) decreased in September and accounted for 34.5% of the total unemployed.