Event: The September Employment Situation, released today by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), indicates that total nonfarm employment rose by 263,000 in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, and temporary help services employment rose by 27,200 jobs. After five months at 2.07%, the temporary agency penetration rate increased to 2.09%. The national unemployment rate fell to 3.5%.
The number of unemployed who described themselves as “on temporary layoff,” was 758,000 in September, down from 782,000 in August 2022, and below its February 2020 level of 780,000. The number of unemployed who described themselves as “permanent job losers” was 1.2 million, up from 1.1 million in August and below the February 2020 level of 1.3 million.
Employment expanded in most major industry groups. The group with the largest gain was Leisure and hospitality, which added 83,000 jobs; followed by Health and social assistance, which added 75,400 jobs; and Temporary Help, which added 27,200 jobs. Employment in four industry groups fell in September. The greatest decline was in Government, which lost 25,000 jobs, followed by declines of 8,000 in Financial Activities, 7,900 in Transportation and Warehousing, and 1,100 in Retail Trade.
Total nonfarm employment continued to grow, adding 263,000 jobs in September, exceeding its February 2020 level by 514,000. Private sector employment increased by 288,000 in September, and was over 1.1 million above its February 2020 level. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, employment in Transportation and warehousing was up 12.7%, or 734,000 jobs above its February 2020 level. The next-largest increase versus February 2020 was in Temporary Help, up 10%, with 290,000 more employees. Employment in Professional Services (excluding temporary help) was 4.3%, or 790,000, jobs, above its February 2020 level.
BLS Revisions: The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for July was revised up by 11,000, from +526,000 to +537,000, and the change for August was unchanged from a gain of +315,000. With these revisions, employment in July and August combined is 11,000 higher than previously reported.
The change in temporary help services employment for July was revised up from a gain of +10,700 to +13,400, and the gain of +11,600 in August was revised up to +13,200. With these revisions, temporary help services employment in August was 6,500 higher than previously reported.
SIA’s Perspective: The US economy added 263,000 jobs in September, below the expected gain of 300,000 from the median prediction of a Bloomberg survey of economists. Labor force participation fell slightly, from 62.4% in August to 62.3% in September, but still remained higher than its rate through most of 2022.
That employment growth came in slightly below expectations for the first time in several months is evidence that the Federal Reserve’s efforts to combat inflation are finally beginning to impact the labor market. That Temporary Help was one of the fastest growing industries in September is a near-term positive for the staffing industry, but we also note that the smaller nationwide job gains suggests businesses are growing more cautious about adding permanent staff as the macroeconomic conditions show some signs of slowing.
Members may download this month’s jobs report or access our new interactive tool (beta) below:
Monthly Employment Situation October 2022
US Employment Situation (interactive tool)
