WASHINGTON: US employment growth slowed more than expected in September and more than 300,000 Americans lost their jobs permanently, dealing a potential blow to President Donald Trump ahead of the fiercely contested Nov. 3 presidential election.
The Labour Department's closely watched employment report on Friday underscored an urgent need for additional fiscal stimulus to aid the economy's recovery from a recession triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. The slowdown in hiring compounds problems for Trump, who announced overnight that he had tested positive for coronavirus.
Just over half of the 22.2 million jobs lost during the pandemic have been recouped. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 661,000 jobs last month, the smallest gain since the jobs recovery started in May, after advancing 1.489 million in August. Every sector added jobs with the exception of government, which shed 216,000 positions because of the departure of temporary workers hired for the Census and layoffs at state and local government education departments as many school districts shift to online learning.
Employment in the leisure and hospitality sector increased by 318,000, accounting for nearly half of the gain in nonfarm employment in September. Payrolls are 10.7 million below their pre-pandemic level. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 850,000 jobs were created in September. Employment growth peaked in June when payrolls jumped by a record 4.781 million jobs.
The unemployment rate fell to 7.9% in September as 695,000 people left the labour force from 8.4% in August. The jobless rate was again biased down by people misclassifying themselves as being "employed but absent from work."
Without this error, the government estimated that the unemployment rate would have been about 8.3% in September. There were 3.8 million people who had lost their jobs for good, up 345,000 from August. More people experienced long bouts of unemployment, with the number of people out of work for more than 27 weeks surging 781,000 to 2.4 million.
The slowing labour market recovery is the strongest sign yet that the economy has shifted into lower gear heading into the fourth quarter. Growth got a boost over the summer from fiscal stimulus. Third-quarter gross domestic product growth estimates are topping a 32% annualized rate, which would reverse a historic 31.4% pace of contraction in the April-June quarter.
Growth estimates for the fourth quarter have been cut to around a 2.5% rate from above a 10% pace. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday approved a $2.2 trillion rescue package. Objections from top Republicans are likely to doom the plan in the Senate.
New coronavirus cases are rising, with a surge expected in the fall, which could lead to some restrictions being imposed on businesses in the services sector. Political uncertainty is increasing and could extend beyond the election, and make businesses cautious about hiring.