The US economy continues to produce more jobs despite being close to full employment. The unemployment rate has remained at or under 4% since April 2018 and the underemployment rate has fallen under 7%. The latest employment report indicates the US is still producing enough jobs to accommodate an expanding population but annual increases in hourly pay have slowed.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US economy created an additional 136,000 jobs in the non-farm sector in September, less than August’s revised increase of 168,000 and under the 145,000 increase which had been expected. Employment figures for July and August were also revised up by a total of 45,000.
The unemployment rate dropped from August’s rate of 3.7% to 3.5% in September as the total number of unemployed decreased by 275,000 to 5.759 million while the total number of people either employed or looking for work shrank by 275,000 to 164.038 million.
US Treasury yields increased at the short end but slipped a little elsewhere along the yield curve. By the end of the day, 2-year Treasury bond yields had gained 2bps to 1.40% while 10-year and 30-year yields each slipped 1bps to 1.53% and 2.02% respectively.