The U.S. economy added 156,000 nonfarm payroll positions in September, according to the latest monthly employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), released this morning. This seasonally adjusted figure—a modest drop from August’s upward-revised addition of 167,000 jobs—falls short of the Wall Street’s expectation. The national unemployment rate took a modest increase to 5.0% in September, while the labor-force participation rate stood at 62.9% for the same month. Average hourly wages for private, nonfarm workers continued to rise to $25.79 in September, a 6-cent gain month-over-month.
The construction industry got a big employment bounce in September, adding 23,000 payroll positions. The manufacturing sector, which has been a soft spot in the economy lately, continued to shed 13,000 jobs in September. Meanwhile, the payrolls in the architectural and engineering services sector gained 1,500 positions in September, its five-straight month of growth.
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