The 2018 OCTOBER JOBS REPORT is in!
Employment has risen for non-farm workers, both temp and long-term!
“INCREASE IN EMPLOYMENT!
On a seasonally adjusted basis, total nonfarm employment rose by 134,000 in September, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in its monthly jobs report. Hurricane Florence was a factor behind the soft growth number. Temporary help services employment rose by 0.3% from the prior month, adding 10,600 jobs, and the temporary penetration rate rose slightly to 2.05%. The national unemployment rate declined to 3.7% from 3.9% in the prior month.
INCREASE IN TEMP JOBS!
The change in temporary help services employment for August was revised from +10,000 to +12,400 and the change for July was revised from +10,900 to +10,300. With these revisions, temporary help employment growth was greater than previously reported by 1,800 jobs.
PAY INCREASE!
Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% in September, following a downwardly revised 0.3% gain in August. On a year-over-year basis, growth was 2.8% in September, cooling slightly from 2.9% in August as prior year comparisons were stronger.
LOWEST EMPLOYMENT SINCE 1969!
The headline that most news organizations are reporting from this month’s job report is that the unemployment rate fell to 3.7%, the lowest since 1969. While we are certainly in a tight labor supply environment, BLS employment data is choppy from month to month, and it would not be shocking to see the unemployment rate tick back up to 3.8% next month, as part of the choppiness. The U-6, or “underemployment” rate which includes part-time workers who would prefer a full-time position and people who want a job but aren’t actively looking, actually ticked up from 7.4% to 7.5% in September. Overall, the takeaway is that we have been in a tight labor supply market for some time, and the environment has not changed dramatically in one month.”
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