Jobs growth slowed in September as economy cooled, interest rates rose. Unemployment fell to 3.5%
USA TodayNov 25, 2022
The Facts
The US blew past the economist forecasts, adding 336K jobs in September despite Washington’s efforts to cool the economy and lower inflation.
The increase to nonfarm payrolls nearly doubled the 170K expected by Bloomberg's survey of economists. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the data Friday while revising job figures from August and July to show that 119K more jobs were created in those months than initially reported.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
September's shocking jobs report is a wonderful reminder of how the US economy continues to thrive despite rampant alarmism from detractors. The recovery from the COVID pandemic has been a struggle the entire world has had to deal with, and few countries have rebounded as successfully and as quickly as the US has. Because businesses remain fully open, many sectors are experiencing a boom that is being enjoyed by millions of Americans. While there may be some concerns about inflation, continued job growth should still be considered a good thing for the economy.
Establishment-critical narrative
Not only is the US economy not performing in the way the Federal Reserve and Washington, DC want it to, but its "job growth" isn’t helping as many working Americans as one would think. Despite a reported 336K new jobs, unemployment stayed the same and the number of newly employed workers only rose 86K — a five-month low. Most of the job gains were part-time while many full-time workers actually lost their jobs. Inflation remains high and workers are forced to take on multiple gigs to offset the decline in full-time opportunities.
