Closing post
Time to wrap up, after a lively week.
American employers added 254,000 jobs last month in the penultimate jobs report before the US election, defying fears of a slowdown in the labor market.
Job creation unexpectedly accelerated in September, while the headline unemployment rate slipped to 4.1% from 4.2% in August.
Economists had forecast a non-farm payrolls reading of around 132,500 for September, after a cooler summer of employment growth.
Hiring instead rose sharply from recent months. In August employers added 159,000 jobs, and in July, they added 144,000.
Both estimates for July and August were revised higher by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday – adding 72,000 more jobs than previously reported – highlighting the strength of the labor market.
The strong jobs report lifted shares on Wall Street, and sent the dollar flying to a seven week high, dragging down the pound.
Sterling is now firmly on track for its worst week since February 2023, having dropped by around 2% or two and a half-cents this week.
It had rallied, before the jobs report, after the Bank of England’s chief economist warned against cutting interest rates “too far or too fast”.
Huw Pill said there should be a gradual reduction in interest rates to make sure inflation remains near the Bank’s 2% target, a day after the governor, Andrew Bailey, said the central bank could move “more aggressively” to lower borrowing costs.
In a boost for the UK’s Labour government, the UK construction sector grew at its fastest pace in two-and-a-half years in September, as housebuilding strengthened.
Here’s the rest of today’s business news:
Today’s jobs report for September suggests the labor market remains strong, says the White House’s council of economic advisers, here:
Today’s jobs report for September suggests the labor market remains strong. Payrolls rose 254,000 and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, both surpassing market expectations. 1/
— Council of Economic Advisers (@WhiteHouseCEA) October 4, 2024
Revisions added a cumulative 72,000 jobs, and the three-month pace of payroll gains was 186,000 in September, up sharply from last month’s 140,000. Private payroll gains were 223,000 in September and 145,000 on a three-month basis. 2/ pic.twitter.com/JoegGfakLR
— Council of Economic Advisers (@WhiteHouseCEA) October 4, 2024
While job gains have cooled since last year, payroll employment growth is still comfortably in the range needed to maintain a low unemployment rate. 3/
— Council of Economic Advisers (@WhiteHouseCEA) October 4, 2024
Employment grew substantially in health care and social assistance, leisure and hospitality (especially restaurants), and construction. The diffusion index of employment growth across industries showed widespread gains across private sector industries in September. 5/ pic.twitter.com/YX5pmJ02z4
— Council of Economic Advisers (@WhiteHouseCEA) October 4, 2024
While manufacturing employment is up a strong 729,000 since January 2021, it fell 7,000 last month. 6/
— Council of Economic Advisers (@WhiteHouseCEA) October 4, 2024
Despite record high construction of manufacturing facilities, factory employment has been flat in recent months. But, taken together, manufacturing and non-residential construction jobs are up 1.3 million since January 2021. 7/
— Council of Economic Advisers (@WhiteHouseCEA) October 4, 2024
The unemployment rate declined for a second month in a row to 4.1%, down 0.2 p.p.t. since July. While the unemployment rate has increased since last year, it remains historically low: it has only been lower 19% of months since 1948. 8/ pic.twitter.com/7uaI3fDT73
— Council of Economic Advisers (@WhiteHouseCEA) October 4, 2024
The unemployment rate fell by 0.4 p.p.t. for both Black workers (to 5.7%) and Hispanic workers (to 5.1%) and fell by 0.2 p.p.t for White workers (to 3.6%). 9/ pic.twitter.com/HyEXLUkSzb
— Council of Economic Advisers (@WhiteHouseCEA) October 4, 2024
