THE SEPTEMBER EMPLOYMENT SITUATION
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer/Blogger Photographer: George Whylie Videographer: Maxine NolanAfter somewhat of a lackluster week for President Obama, the September Employment situation comes as good news and a positive boost to his campaign.
In order to keep this momentum going, the Congress should pass an extension of middle class tax cuts proposed by President Obama and passed by the Senate. The benefit of passing this extension would prevent a $2,200 tax increase at the beginning of next year for the typical middle-class family. The President has also proposed a plan whereby homeowners can take advantage of refinancing their homes at historical low interest rates. Going hand in hand with this proposal is the American Jobs Act which will get more individuals into the workforce and cut the unemployment rate down even further.
Based on the release of the report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it was reported that private sector jobs increased by 104,000 and overall non-farm payroll employment jobs rose by 114,000. Revisions to the previous two months added another 86,000 jobs. This marks 31 months of adding jobs in a row. The economy has added a total of 5.2 million private sector jobs during that period.
Perhaps the best bit of good news is the decrease in the unemployment rate from 8.1% to 7.8% in September, the lowest rate since January of 2009. Labor force participation rose by 418,000 people in September, and the labor force participation rate rose by 0.1 percentage point. Looking at the statistics over the last year, the unemployment rate has decreased by 1.2 percentage points, the largest drop since February of 1995.
Employment rose in health care and social assistance by 44,500 jobs, transportation and warehousing by 17,100 jobs, restaurant and bars added workers to the tune of 15,700, financial activities by 13,000 jobs and professional and business services added by 13,000 jobs.
The only negative area of employment was manufacturing which lost 16,000 jobs, primarily in durable goods.(-13,000)
As a reminder, these figures are volatile and employment estimates can be subject to substantial revision. Hopefully the month of October will bring us even more positive results as we slide into November, the deciding month for the upcoming Presidential/Vice-Presidential election.
STATEMENT ISSUED BY ALAN B. KRUEGER – Released by the WHITE HOUSE (Office of the Press Secretary)
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