The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the American economy added a weak 194,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 4.8 percent, missing a predicted 500,000 new payrolls by sixty percent.
Payroll employment rises by 194,000 in September; unemployment rate declines to 4.8% https://t.co/1Y9cSWJUIB #JobsReport #BLSdata
— BLS-Labor Statistics (@BLS_gov) October 8, 2021
BLS reported that "job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, in professional and business services, in retail trade, and in transportation and warehousing" while the "number of unemployed persons fell by 710,000 to 7.7 million" which is still higher than the 5.7 million Americans who were unemployed before the Wuhan coronavirus struck.
EMPLOYMENT WATCH: U.S. created just 194,000 jobs in September. Below 500,000 MarketWatch forecast. Private-sector employment up 371K, but public school education a drag.
— MarketWatch Economy (@MKTWeconomics) October 8, 2021
Unemployment falls to 4.8% from 5.2%, largely due to labor force decline. Weak report. Labor shortage real.
Economists had predicted half a million new jobs and a 5.1 percent unemployment rate, a forecast that was partially missed and partially met for September, but the lower unemployment rate isn't necessarily a good metric to beat when paired with weak job growth. As economist Steve Moore explained on Fox Business Friday morning, September's 4.8 percent unemployment rate is not a good number to see when fewer than 200,000 new payrolls were added because that shows people are leaving the labor market and no longer looking for work.
Moore also pointed out the unemployment rate could easily get to zero if those not currently working just dropped out of the workforce. BLS reported a labor participation rate of 61.6 percent in September, down roughly two percentage points since February 2020 before the Wuhan coronavirus.
***The US economy regained 194k jobs in September, a figure well below expectations as Delta continues inflicting pain on the economic recovery.
— Joseph Zeballos-Roig (@josephzeballos) October 8, 2021
By comparison:
August: +366k
July: +1,090,000
June: +962k
May: +614k
Sept. would be worst month for job growth this year
Meanwhile, extended unemployment benefits continue to phase out, giving more Americans an incentive to find jobs and return to the workforce. Still, there are millions more job openings than unemployed Americans pointing to a lasting labor shortage across a number of industries.
September's jobs numbers come as President Biden's job approval continues to tank, especially when it comes to economic issues facing Americans.
New polling out this week from Quinnipiac found that across the board, Biden is underwater with a 38-53 approval/disapproval rating. Just 39 percent approve of Biden's handling of the economy while 55 percent disapprove. More than two-thirds — 69 percent — of Americans currently rate the country's economy under Biden as "not so good" or "poor."
When it comes to taxes, 37 percent of Americans approve of Biden's policies while 54 percent disapprove. More than half — 56 percent — of Americans say Biden doesn't have good leadership skills as he continues promising he'll build American back better.