The Jobs Report is All Silver Lining

Today’s jobs report shows, at long last, what employment growth looks like in a balanced economic expansion.

Total employment not only grew by a net 248,000 positions in September; the jobs data for July and August also were revised upward by an additional 69,000 positions, for jobs gains in those months of 243,000 and 180,000, respectively.   Further, the number of people who lost their jobs in September also fell pretty sharply, by 306,000.  To be sure, the gains in September were uneven demographically, because the labor market does not provide an even playing field for everyone: So unemployment fell among men, whites and Hispanics, but remained unchanged for women, blacks and teenagers. 

Looking across industries, the biggest job gains occurred in health care, retail trade, and professional and business services.  The expansion of insurance coverage under Obamacare helps explain the job growth in health care, while the job gains in retail trade reflect rising consumer spending, and the gains in professional and business services go hand-in-hand with the recent strong growth of business investment.  Moreover, information services, mining, leisure and hospitality businesses, and finance all posted decent job growth.  Finally, the construction industry added jobs, too, which hopefully signals a continuing housing recovery that could ultimately strengthen the expansion.