Wall Street is reacting to a better-than-expected labor market reading this morning. The US economy added 254,000 jobs in September, coming in significantly above the 150,000 expected by economists. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked slightly lower to 4.1%, coming in below the 4.2% expected by economists.
The US economy added 254,000 jobs in September, a jump from August’s 150,000 jobs. Yahoo Finance’s Federal Reserve Reporter Jennifer Schonberger meets with Acting US Labor Secretary Julie Su to discuss what the latest jobs report means for the US economy.
“We have seen month after month, for the last four years really, strong economic recovery. Many people predicted this would not be possible. There was no way we could come back from the economy that we inherited from the last administration, the impact of the pandemic with no national strategy in the past, and do what we've done,” the Acting US Labor Secretary tells Yahoo Finance.
Su credits the uptick in jobs to leadership and strong economic policy. “It's workers being able to exercise their power. And it's companies like helping to fuel a record recovery. 254,000 jobs created last month. The two months before that, there were also upward adjustments. The unemployment rate remains at or near 4% for the longest stretch since before most of us were born. And this is again, you know, most people thought it would not be possible, but it is if you invest big in America, if you put working people first, and if you have solid leadership, I think that makes a really big difference.”
In regard to recent revisions, the Acting US Labor Secretary says, “Let's remember again, the data that we report every month is the gold standard. We report the facts. Now we also report when we get additional data. So sometimes, that means a downward revision. Sometimes it means an upward revision. That has always been the case for decades. This is the way that the numbers come out. The fact that they've been strong month after month, year after year under this administration makes them not an anomaly.”
She says, “This is strong, stable, steady job growth. It's the very definition of a solid recovery. And we continue to see that every single month. And we need to keep that up. We need to keep that work so that until, everybody feels it and you know but but this month it's a very good story.”
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This post was written by Naomi Buchanan.