Labor report shows 254K jobs added in September

Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data shows the U.S. job market gained momentum in September, with the unemployment rate declining slightly to 4.1%.

Employers added 254,000 jobs, higher than the previous 12-month average monthly gain of 203,000, and higher than the 159,000 jobs added in August.

Federal Reserve cut interest rates in September, the first time in years, in an attempt to battle inflation.

Information is gathered from two surveys. The household survey covers labor force status and unemployment by demographic characteristics. The second survey, known as the establishment survey, covers nonfarm employment hours and earnings by industry.

The uptick in employment was in food service, health care, government, social assistance and construction, with food service and drinking establishinments increasing by 69,000 in September, compared to the average monthly gain of 14,000.

Health care added 45,000 jobs, ranking below average throughout the previous 12 months, with government agencies reaching 31,000 and social assistance employers 27,000. Construction companies added 25,000 in September.

Average hourly wage climbed 0.4%, according to the report.

Data from Bureau of Labor Statistics showed a slight decline in the unemployment rate from 4.2% the previous month, to 4.1%. The number of unemployed people was 6.8 million. This number is higher than 2023, when the jobless rate was 3.8%, with 6.3 million unemployed.

The number of long-term unemployed, those unemployed for longer than 27 weeks, had little change from the previous month, but has increased to 1.6 million from 1.3 million in 2023.

The report states that undocumented migrants are likely included in both surveys, since neither is designed to ask the legal status of each worker, making it difficult to determine how many are counted in either survey.

Although the household survey includes identifying questions for foreign and native-born people, it does not include questions about the legal status of the foreign-born.