The October 5th Bureau of Labor Statistics press release was disappointing, particularly for incumbents in the upcoming elections. The report indicated that the U.S. added only 114,000 nonfarm jobs in September. It stated, “Employment increased in health care and in transportation and warehousing but changed little in most other major industries.” While job creation is important, the expansion of these industries does little to create jobs in other sectors.
The recent update also indicated that there are 12 million Americans out of work. Four years ago that number was 9.5 million and 6 years ago it was 6.8 million. The fact that the unemployment rate edged downward to 7.8% seems somewhat irrelevant given this data.
The data can be looked at from a slightly different perspective. That view indicates that the nation has regained about half the jobs lost as a result of the Great Recession. Ugh!
The private sector added 104,000 jobs for the month, while government employment added 10,000 workers. This is the second month in a row for increased government employment. While some have an unfavorable view of job gains in the public sector, in this case, it may be a positive indicator that state and local revenue streams have improved.
The BLS announcement was preceded by the ADP employment report which stated that private nonfarm employment had risen by 162,000 in September, 189,000 in August, and 156,000 in July. At this point, ADP is clearly more optimistic about the recovery than the BLS.
On average, Colorado nonfarm employment comprises about 1.72% of the U.S. total. If Colorado grows at the same pace as the U.S., the state data will gain about 2,000 jobs in September. We’ll see what BLS says in their monthly update on October 19th.
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