The U.S. economy added far more jobs in September than economists expected, pushing the unemployment rate lower and providing reassurance to people concerned about a slowdown in America.
The U.S. Labor Department reported that nonfarm payrolls surged by 254,000 during September, up markedly from a revised 159,000 jobs created in August, and better than the 150,000 consensus forecast of economists who were surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.
The big increase in the number of jobs created pushed the U.S. unemployment rate down to 4.1%, a decline of 0.1 percentage points. Analysts responded to the strong report by saying that it alleviates concerns about the state of the U.S. labor market and gives the U.S. Federal Reserve permission to lower interest rates at a more gradual pace moving forward.
In recent days, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has pushed back on expectations that the U.S. central bank will continue to lower interest rates aggressively, indicating that reductions of 25-basis points are likely in coming months following a 50-basis point cut on Sept. 18 of this year.
Growth in Full-Time Jobs
The job creation in September was broadbased and concentrated in full-time positions. Full-time jobs rose by 414,000 during the month, while the number of part-time positions declined by 95,000. The U.S. hospitality sector, which includes restaurants and bars, added 69,000 positions in September after averaging just 14,000 over the previous 12 months. Healthcare contributed 45,000 new positions, while government grew by 31,000.
Wages also continue to grow in the U.S., with average hourly earnings rising 0.4% month-over-month in September and 4% from a year ago. Both figures were ahead of consensus estimates. The average workweek edged lower to 34.2 hours, down by 0.1 hour. America’s labor force participation rate held steady at 62.7% in September.
Is the SPY ETF a Buy?
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) that tracks the benchmark S&P 500 index has a consensus Moderate Buy rating among 505 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 406 Buy, 93 Hold and six Sell recommendations made in the last three months. The average SPY price target of $629.75 implies 10.91% upside potential from current levels.
