Washington, DC, October 7, 2005 -- Payrolls fell by only 35,000 in September, according to a Labor Department report. It was the first decline in more than two years.
The unemployment rate rose to 5.1% in September from 4.9%, as 270,000 Americans joined the ranks of the jobless reflecting the affects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Economists had extected a drop of 150,000 in payrolls. The rise in the unemployment rate was expected.
In addition to the better-than-expected September results, payrolls in July and August were revised higher by a total of 77,000 jobs. Job growth has averaged 194,000 per month over the past year.
The government would not precisely quantify the impact of Hurricane Katrina. However, employment patterns elsewhere in the nation were roughly in line with the recent past, according to Philip Rones, deputy commission of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assuming normal hiring in the rest of the nation, the storms cost roughly 230,000 jobs, he said.
The manufacturing sector lost 27,000 jobs, including 18,000 due to the strike at Boeing. Jobs in the construction sector increased by 23,000.
The service sector lost 36,000 jobs, while government worker rolls increased by 31,000.
Hours worked in the economy fell by 0.2% in September, as the average workweek was steady at 33.7 hours.
Average hourly wages increased by 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $16.18.
