The latest U.S. jobs report for September 2023 was released on Friday, October 6, 2023.
The U.S. economy added 336,000 jobs last month, much more than expected, despite the Federal Reserve’s struggle to cool the world’s largest economy.
The unemployment rate was 3.8%, in line with August 2023. The data lifted hopes that the central bank will manage to guide the U.S. economy to a ‘soft landing’, where a recession is avoided. Bear in mind the Fed were late in dealing with the initial rise in inflation – so this battle has become harder and prolonged.
The job gains were the largest monthly rise since January 2023, and almost twice what economists had anticipated. Government and healthcare added the most jobs. The labour market still appears solid.
However, not all indicators were positive. The ADP’s national employment report showed that private-sector employers added only 89,000 jobs in September, far fewer than expected. Some factors outside the Fed’s control, such as the autoworker strike and the threat of a government shutdown, could yet damage the U.S. economy.
The labour force participation rate also remained low at 63.2%, indicating that many workers have yet to return to the labour market since the Covid19 pandemic of 2020.