Employment Situation Summary
Bureau of Labor Statistics: Employment Situation Summary
The employment report was almost entirely positive today. Not only did the economy create 248k jobs in September, but the July and August job reports were revised upward to add 69k more jobs. As a result the unemployment rate dropped to 5.9% and U-6 unemployment, which includes people marginally attached to the workforce and part-time workers looking for full-time employment dropped .2 points to 11.8%. The average work week also increased to 34.6 hours, so the economy isn’t just creating part-time work. Wages remain stagnant, and its likely that the labor market has to tighten up more to force employers to grant good raises, but at the pace that the economy is generating jobs we should get there soon, and in the meantime tame inflation alleviates pressure on the Fed to increase interest rates before full employment is achieved. Unfortunately I don’t expect this report to help Democrats much next month, since stagnant wages have left Americans feeling like we are still in a recession. At the current rate of job creation, however, we should have full employment in time for the 2016 elections, leaving the GOP with nothing to run on.