Washington, DC, Oct. 4—According to the Labor Department, the nation’s unemployment fell to 5.6% of the labor force in September as the struggling economy produced more than enough new jobs to offset payroll cutting by businesses.
September’s jobless rate was down fractionally from the 5.7% level of August, but was nevertheless better than many analysts had forecast.
The seasonally adjusted civilian jobless rate has bounced up and down for months without a clear trend emerging in hiring. The pattern of new claims for unemployment benefits has also fluctuated in recent weeks.
The civilian jobless rate is calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics based on a survey of households. It was that survey which produced the 5.6% rate.
A separate government survey of businesses showed that employers cut 43,000 jobs last month—the first such cut since last April. The same survey, after revision, showed that 107,000 jobs were added to payrolls in August—a much better performance than the 39,000 positions previously reported.
Respondents to the household survey reported that some 711,000 people found work in September, raising the ranks of the employed nationwide to 135.2 million. That more than offset the payroll reductions, which were most severe in the manufacturing and transportation areas.
Economists are not yet predicting that the nation will fall back into recession, but analysts have continued to worry aloud about mixed signals in a wide range of business indicators.
Companies’ profits are still hurting after taking a hit during last year’s recession, so they are reluctant to make big commitments in capital spending and in hiring, factors impeding the economy’s recovery. Economic uncertainties, including worries about a possible war with Iraq, are also weighing heavily on businesses.
In the jobs report, losses were concentrated in manufacturing and transportation. Factories, which have been the hardest hit during the recession, eliminated 35,000 jobs. The industry lost almost 100,000 jobs in the last two months combined after losing just 80,000 in the previous four months.
In the transportation and public utilities category, 32,000 jobs were lost. Trucking had an unusually large decline last month with 17,000 jobs cut. Air transportation also lost 12,000 jobs during the month.
The services sector added 28,000 jobs, which was the smallest job gain in a string of increases dating back to March. Job gains in health services, engineering and management services were partly offset by seasonal job losses in amusement and recreation. The federal government also continued to add workers, mostly in the Transportation Security Administration.
