WASHINGTON – The U.S. unemployment rate sank back to its 30-year low of 3.9 percent in September, showing the strength of the labor market and raising new doubts about the extent of an economic slowdown. Of course in this busy time for landscaping work in preparation for winter, the low rate makes finding labor that much more difficult for contractors.
"There still appears to be a shortage of labor," said Paul Kasriel, economist at Northern Trust Co. in Chicago, in a Reuters news story. "The labor markets continue to be tight. Manufacturing is weak, but the service sector is strong."
The Labor Department said the September jobless rate, down two-tenths of a percent from August's rate of 4.1 percent, was the lowest since April, which in turn was the lowest since 1970.
The number of workers on payrolls outside the farm sector rose by 252,000, a moderate rebound from a revised drop of 91,000 jobs in August, compared to the original August estimate of 105,000 jobs dropped.
Even with the solid job growth, average hourly earnings, a key gauge of inflation pressures, moderated in September, rising 0.2 percent to $13.83 an hour, down from a 0.4 percent increase in August.
The average workweek for private-sector employees rose to 34.4 hours from 34.3 in August.
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