Unemployment fell to 7.9% in the last pre-election report

U.S. employers added 661,000 jobs last month.

U.S. U.S. Department of Labor Statistics The bureau said in its latest employment report that employers added 1,661,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate fell to 9.9% from 4.4%.

Friday’s employment report is the last before the November presidential election.

The latest data suggest that the labor market is still trying to dig itself out of the hole caused by the coronavirus epidemic, which has shut down much of the U.S. economy and left more than 20 million people losing their jobs in a single month.

Before the epidemic hit the U.S. The unemployment rate in was 3.5 ..% in February.

Broken by ethnic groups, recent data show the disproportionate impact of the unemployment crisis on color people. The unemployment rate in September was 7% for white workers, 12.1% for black workers, 10.3% for Hispanic workers and 8.9% for Asian workers.

Significant job gains in September were leisure and hospitality (an increase of 3,118,000), retail (an increase of 15,000 jobs) and health care and social assistance (an increase of 10,000,000 jobs).

Most of the leisure and hospitality jobs came from food and beverage service venues, the sector being particularly hard hit by this year’s epidemic earlier this year.

The biggest job losses last month were in government employment, which fell to 216,000 in September. Moreover, employment in local government education and state government education has declined to 231,000 and 49,000, respectively.

“The big issue we’re facing now is the recession,” Erica Gross, a senior economics consultant at Cornell University and former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, told the report ahead of the report. Release.

Groshen said the impact of the epidemic on the labor market earlier this year was mitigated by quick-response policy measures, including the Paycheck Protection Program, Unemployment Insurance and new Federal Reserve lending efforts.

“Now, we are entering a phase where the effects of the recession are likely to become more pronounced.” “Because policy interventions are largely over.”

As optimism falters in the economy, more homes are less willing to spend and companies and financial institutions are less willing to invest, Grossen said.

“We are in for a big shock. We have deliberately put our economy in a medical-motivated coma.” “Now, we’re starting to emerge. But it’s fair to expect, all indications are that this is a big risk.”

Risk and uncertainty further slow down economic growth, prolonging the recession.

Another major concern is that temporary job layoffs or furloughs could become permanent, especially as policy programs expire and companies adjust the epidemic economy to altered customer demand.

He said three economic downturns in the country’s past had led to “a long period of unemployment recovery where the economy improved, but companies did not employ people very quickly.”

“I don’t see anything that tells me that this recovery won’t look like this,” Grossen predicted.