Oh, how a single month can change everything! After months of worry and concern over a potential recession, the market seems to be calming itself. Now, since the Federal Reserve has pulled the trigger and lowered interest rates a whopping half of a percent, economists are starting to talk about a “soft landing,” or when inflation is reined in without triggering a recession. Months of wariness seem to be coming to an end, but, with an election in just over a month, it is prudent to continue to watch the market. This week, with the release of September’s Job Report and August’s Job Opening Survey, everyone got to see the initial impact of the Reserve’s cuts. For September, employers added roughly 254,000 jobs, and unemployment fell another 0.1%. With some experts calling this the most robust jobs report in months, the stock market is being cautiously optimistic at this time.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in September, the U.S. economy added 254,000 new Nonfarm payroll jobs. August’s numbers were revised up to 159,000. September’s job opening report, along with August’s surprising increase in numbers saw unemployment decrease slightly to 4.1% for the last month, causing the market to breathe a welcome sigh of relief. The number of jobs in the Transportation and Warehouse industries stayed roughly the same for September. As usual, we’ll have more on that sector below!
August's Job Opening and Turnover Survey
In August, for the first time in months, job openings adjusted to a higher number, leaping up to 8 million jobs. However, job openings drastically increased for the Construction industry by 138,000. State and Local Government, excluding education, jobs also saw an increase by about 78,000.
The quit rate for August adjusted downward to 3.1 million, while layoffs decreased to 1.6 million. These adjusted numbers for August have added to the buzz around September’s jobs report, and, together, the two reports are keeping economic experts excited that a recession is not as close as everyone had feared only a month or two ago.
September's Jobs Report
For the month of September, Non-farm payrolls grew by 254,000. This number comes in way above anyone’s expectations, and, with the added bonus of having August’s numbers adjust upward, experts and the market are cautiously optimistic. When the Reserve met in the middle of last month, they made the decision to lower interest rates by half of a percent. Many believe that this has spurred the market towards this better jobs report. September’s report shows unemployment rate falling slightly to 4.1%. The labor force participation rate for September stayed the same at 62.7%.
Last month, September 2024, the Healthcare industry, which has been steadily adding small numbers of jobs every month for the past year, added another 45,000 jobs. In Social Assistance, new jobs came in with another gain of 27,000, but there was also another decent sized gain in Construction (+25,000). The Transportation and Warehousing industries have not been making great increases or decreases. This industry has remained in a stable position, but, with the Great Freight Recession still on the minds of many in trucking, experts are still watching Transportation and Warehousing. This will continue as we get closer to the holiday season, and we will hopefully see some growth in this sector in the coming months.
Conclusion
The September Jobs Report and the August Job Opening and Turnover Survey came out today, smashing the concerns for a recession coming before the end of the year. With the Federal Reserve’s action in decreasing interest rates, there is hope that the market will even out over the rest of 2024. It is much nicer to be discussing a “soft landing” versus a SAHM rule! However, with an election in just over a month, there is still a lot of room for changes. The next jobs report will come out just days before the election, and we will be monitoring it. Stay tuned to the LZ Blog and our Lionzone social media!
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Meaghan Goldberg covers recruitment and digital marketing for Lionzone. A Patterson, GA native, after graduating from both Valdosta State University and Middle Tennessee State University, Meaghan joined Lionzone in 2018 as a digital recruitment strategist before becoming the social media manager.
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