A Laboring Labor Market

Uncle Sam got low marks on September’s jobs report.

The U.S. economy added just 29,000 jobs last month, well below the predicted 84,000. Unemployment rose to 4.2% (largely because 485,000 people started working or job hunting, and job hunters count as unemployed), and annual wage growth slowed to 3%, its lowest since May 2021. Plus, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised its July and August numbers, bumping them down by a combined 60,000 jobs.

The pain wasn’t spread evenly; job losses were concentrated in government, information, and financial sectors, while healthcare, construction, and manufacturing all added jobs.

The labor data has investors more confident that the Federal Reserve, which raised rates in September to fight inflation, will not raise interest rates in October. Raising rates tends to increase unemployment, but the effect is delayed and indirect (Yeah, there’s a lot of numbers in this story… We made you a fun explainer).

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ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE
Whether the economy is booming, busting, or just bumping along, God remains in control. In the midst of uncertainty on earth, set your hope on the abundance we will enjoy with Christ when He comes.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”
1 Peter 1:3-4 (CSB) (read full passage)