Economy slowing as US firms hire fewer workers
Print Edition
United States employers added far fewer than expected workers in September, suggesting a loss of momentum in the economy that supported the Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain its monthly bond purchases.
Nonfarm payrolls increased 148,000 last month, the Labor Department said yesterday.
While the job count for August was revised to show more positions created than previously reported, employment gains in July were the weakest since June 2012.
But there was some silver lining in the report, with the jobless rate dropping a tenth of a percentage point to 7.2 percent, the lowest level since November 2008.
The jobless rate is derived from a separate survey of households, which showed a rise in employment last month.
The closely watched monthly employment report was released more than two weeks later than originally scheduled because of the partial shutdown of the federal government earlier this month.
Signs the economy lost steam even before the budget fight could rattle financial markets.
Economists estimate the 16-day government shutdown shaved as much as 0.6 percentage point off annualized fourth-quarter gross domestic product, through reduced government output and damage to both consumer and business confidence.
Officials at the Fed are likely to hold off any decision on scaling back the US central bank’s bond buying until the extent of the economic damage from the budget fight is clearer.
Fed officials will meet on October 29-30 to discuss monetary policy.
They surprised markets last month by sticking to their US$85 billion per month bond-buying pace, saying they wanted to see more evidence of a strong recovery.
Many economists think the Fed will delay scaling back economic stimulus until next year.
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