Employment by Industry: September’s Results Disappoint

September saw the worst monthly performance for the U.S. labor market since January, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) job report. The latest data showed the economy created a stingy 194,000 new jobs in September to mark the second disappointing monthly increase in a row. The sharp dive from the 1.091 million positions added in July suggests a lack of labor could frustrate U.S. economic growth in the months ahead.

September’s employment report fell well short of several market forecasts and far below the monthly average of 561,000 jobs created since the start of the year. The size of the labor force shrank by 183,000, partly explaining the unexpected drop in unemployment, which slipped to 4.8% and touched a new pandemic low.

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.