Strong September job gains in just five industries masked weak or no job growth in all other industries as the unemployment rate remained at 3.8%.
Employers added a higher than expected 336,000 payroll jobs in September and July and August job gains in were revised up a combined 119,000 jobs over those previously reported.
September unemployment and labor force participation rates were unchanged after increasing in August.
Annual wage growth cooled to 4.2%, down from the 4.3% to 4.4% range it has been in since March 2023 and significantly lower than the 5.4% wage gain in August 2022.
Five industries accounted for 66% of the monthly job gain: State and local government (+67,000), bars and restaurants (+60,700), health care (+40,900), professional, scientific, and technical services (+29,000), and social assistance (+25,000).
Job gains in manufacturing and retail trade were mostly motor vehicle related and are unlikely to be repeated until the UAW strike is over. Most other industries saw little or no change.
Last hurrah for job growth? While future job gains are expected to continue in health care and for those industries that have still not fully recovered their pre-Covid highs, recent strike activity, college loan payments restarting, and higher interest rates are likely to mute employment growth for the next three months.
