Total nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 119k in September but has shown little change since April; Unemployment rate changed little at 4.4 percent
Total nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 119,000 in September but has shown little change since April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The unemployment rate, at 4.4 percent, changed little in September. Employment continued to trend up in health care, food services and drinking places, and social assistance. Job losses occurred in transportation and warehousing and in federal government.
Both the unemployment rate, at 4.4 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.6 million, changed little in September. These measures are higher than a year earlier, when the jobless rate was 4.1 percent, and the number of unemployed people was 6.9 million.
The number of people employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.6 million, changed little in September. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.
The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job decreased by 421,000 to 5.9 million in September. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job.
Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor force changed little at 1.7 million in September. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, also changed little over the month at 557,000.
INDUSTRY FOCUS(Establishment Survey Data)
- Total nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 119,000 in September but has shown little change since April. In September, employment continued to trend up in health care, food services and drinking places, and social assistance. Job losses occurred in transportation and warehousing and in federal government.
- In September, health care added 43,000 jobs, about the same as the average monthly gain of 42,000 over the prior 12 months. Over the month, employment gains occurred in ambulatory health care services (+23,000) and hospitals (+16,000).
- Employment in food services and drinking places continued to trend up in September (+37,000).
- In September, social assistance employment continued to trend up (+14,000), reflecting continued job growth in individual and family services (+20,000).
- Employment in transportation and warehousing declined by 25,000 in September as job losses occurred in warehousing and storage (-11,000) and couriers and messengers (-7,000).
- Federal government employment continued to decline in September (-3,000) and is down by 97,000 since reaching a peak in January. (Employees on paid leave or receiving ongoing severance pay are counted as employed in the establishment survey.)
- Employment showed little or no change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade; information; financial activities; professional and business services; and other services.
Source: The Employment Situation – September 2025 BLS Report