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Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 119,000 in September, coming in above expectations. On the other hand, July and August’s job gains were revised downward by 33,000 to a gain of 72,000 jobs and a loss of 4,000 jobs, respectively. The 12-month average stands at 109,000 job gains per month. The unemployment rate rose 0.1% to 4.4%, while the labor force participation rate inched up 0.1% to 62.4%.

Manufacturing employment slipped by 6,000 in September, the fifth consecutive month of job losses. Furthermore, the collective job losses in July and August of 14,000 were revised downward by 10,000 jobs to a decrease of 24,000 jobs. Manufacturing employment is down 94,000 over the year, the most of any industry. Durable goods manufacturing employment fell by 4,000 in September, while nondurable goods employment edged down by 2,000. The most significant gain in manufacturing in September occurred in beverage, tobacco and leather and allied product manufacturing, which added 3,300 jobs over the month. Meanwhile, the most significant loss occurred in plastics and rubber products manufacturing, which shed 3,500 jobs over the month.

The employment-population ratio ticked up 0.1% to 59.7% but is down 0.4 percentage points from a year ago. Employed persons who are part-time workers for economic reasons decreased by 170,000 to 4.58 million and are down from 4.62 million in September 2024. Native-born employment is up 676,000 over the month and 2,518,000 over the year. Meanwhile, foreign-born employment is down 70,000 over the month and 670,000 over the year.

Average hourly earnings for all private nonfarm payroll employees rose 0.2%, or 9 cents, reaching $36.67. Over the past year, earnings have grown 3.8%. The average workweek for all employees stayed the same at 34.2 hours but edged down 0.1 hour to 39.9 hours for manufacturing employees.