Hickey Jobs Report Update September 2022
Hickey Jobs Report Update – U.S. adds 263,000 jobs in September 2022
As the global economy continues to show ominous signs for the near future, American employers continued to add to payrolls by adding 263,000 jobs in September. According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Jobs Report, with the addition of more jobs in the economy, the unemployment rate saw a slight decrease to 3.5 percent, returning once again to pre-pandemic levels.
Leisure + Hospitality, Health Care, Professional & Business Services, and Manufacturing were the leading industries in job gains for September. On trend from last month, hourly wages have once again risen by ten cents to $32.46, setting the overall wage increase at 5 percent over the last 12 months.
We’re tracking these latest updates, along with labor force participation rates, wage shifts, and inflationary concerns – here are the five things you need to know from the latest U.S. Jobs Report:
U.S. businesses continued adding to their workforce, with 263,000 new jobs in September, which is approximately 50,000 less than August. In total, the U.S. economy has added more than 3.9 million new workers since the beginning of 2022, despite an unknown economy.
Leisure and Hospitality saw the largest gains in employment, especially within the Food Services and Drinking Places industry with 60,000 jobs. Overall, the industry increased employment this month by 83,000 and has 1.1 million jobs above pre-pandemic levels, which is on trend with August.
Average hourly earnings have seen an increase by 5 percent, over the last 12 months. In September, hourly earnings rose 0.3 percent with a 10-cent increase, to $32.46, which follows the previous month.
The Transportation and Warehousing sector saw a decrease in employment of 11,000 jobs, which is on trend with the last 3 months, following incredible growth over the previous two years. Although the industry gained 3,000 jobs in Air Transportation, it was offset by a large loss of 11,000 jobs in Truck Transportation.
The unemployment rate decreased slightly back to pre-pandemic levels to 3.5 percent by adding another 263,000 jobs to the economy. The total Labor Participation Rate saw little change in September at 62.3 percent, 0.1 lower than August.
For more information and insights on the latest U.S. Jobs Report, check the latest update from our Hickey Location Analytics and Incentives Team: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Summary website.
Report Summary
The American economy added another 263,000 jobs, despite heightened economic uncertainty, according to the latest U.S. Jobs Report. Since the beginning of 2022, the U.S. economy has added more than 3.9 million jobs.
The federal labor agency did revise their previous projections with the calculation for year-to-date hires, setting employment in July and August combined to be 11,000 jobs higher than previously reported.
Employment gains were seen across various industries. The strongest gains were in Leisure + Hospitality, Health Care, and Professional & Business Services, along with Manufacturing and Construction, among others.
In the month of September, the overall number of unemployed persons edged down to 5.8 million in the United States. The national unemployment rate decreased slightly to 3.5 percent this month from the previous 3.7 percent seen last month.
The labor force participation rate had a very slight decrease at 62.3 percent in the month and saw no change in the employment-population ratio of 60.1 percent. U.S. hourly wages increased by ten cents in September to $32.46, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Key Industries
Leisure & Hospitality
The Leisure & Hospitality sector continued its upward trend by adding 83,000 new jobs in September. The Food Services and Drinking Places industry saw the biggest gain in employment of 60,000. The industry overall is below its pre pandemic levels by 6.7 percent, or 1.1 million jobs.
Professional & Business Services
Continuing on last month’s growth, the Professional & Business Services sectors added 46,000 jobs in September, and has seen an average growth of 72,000 jobs per month this year. Most significant job gains were in temporary help services with the addition of 27,000 jobs in September, as well as security services with 9,000 jobs, and scientific research and development with 5,000 new jobs.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing continued a hiring surge with another addition of 22,000 jobs in September. Largest growth was seen in motor vehicles and parts with the addition of 8,000 jobs and fabricated metal products with 6,000 jobs. In total this year, the manufacturing industry has added 36,000 jobs on average per month.
Transportation & Warehousing
The Transportation & Warehousing sector saw a slight decrease in employment by 8,000 in September, which has been consecutive with the previous 3 months. This industry gained 3,000 jobs in air transportation, but had a loss of 11,000 jobs in truck transportation.
Health Care
The Health Care sectors had a large gain in employment in September with over 60,000 new jobs across the U.S., returning to its February 2020 level, pre-pandemic. Ambulatory health care services and hospitals both contributed to this number adding 28,000 jobs each.
Other Notable Industries
In other notable industries, Construction employment added 19,000, and the Wholesale Trade sector brought on 11,000 jobs during September. There was little change in employment during this month in the mining, retail trade, information, other services, and government sectors.
For more information on the latest Jobs Report, including additional details on the data concepts and statistical methodologies utilized, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Summary website.
If you are interested in learning more about the jobs reports, along with how we support our clients with dynamic labor analytics, we would be excited to connect one of our location strategy experts: