By Tom Burnett CFA
On October 2, 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported its employment data for September. Total jobs, public and private, rose by 661,000 to 147.6 million, the largest figure since the Covid-19 outbreak crushed the economy in March. Total employment one year ago was 158.3 million. The unemployment rate declined to 7.9% from 8.4% in August. In February, the rate was 3.5%. Employment numbers are now down 10.7 million from February, just prior to the pandemic impact. The number of unemployed declined to 12.6 million from 13.6 million in the previous month. In February, total unemployment was just 5.8 million. Job growth is continuing to recover, but at a much lower rate than was experienced in the June-August period.
The next BLS report on employment will be issued on November 6, 2020.
Tom Burnett CFA is Director of Research