Topline
The unemployment rate increased in September despite a surge in added jobs, according to delayed Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Thursday, marking a long-awaited snapshot into the economy as Wall Street anticipated a sharp decline in hiring in recent months.
The economic data, delayed by more than a month, offers a snapshot of the labor market as large-scale layoffs were announced in recent weeks.
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Key Facts
The unemployment rate increased to 4.4% in September, above economists’ estimates of 4.3%, according to FactSet.
The U.S. added 119,000 nonfarm jobs in the month, a sharp increase over estimates of 58,000 jobs and a rebound from the 22,000 added jobs in August, which fell below analyst projections and marked a decline from the 79,000 added in July.
A rise in payrolls was largely driven by jobs in health care, which added 43,000 positions, as well as an additional 37,000 jobs for bars and restaurants, while social assistance tacked on 14,000.
Transportation and warehousing dropped 25,000 jobs and the federal government, a historical contributor to employment growth, dropped 3,000 jobs, marking a decline of 97,000 jobs on the year so far.
Unemploment Applications Dropped Last Week
The number of Americans who filed for unemployment totaled 220,000 for the week ending Nov. 15, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week and below estimates of 227,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That marks a slight improvement from October data released earlier this week by the agency, which reported an uptick in jobless benefits applications to 232,000 in the week ending Oct. 19.