Food for hungry
The nonfarm payroll statistics for September showed a sharp decline of 95,000 jobs–far more than analysts predicted. The steep drop reflected a decline in government payrolls that shows the damage being done by rising fiscal deficits.
“September’s U.S. payroll report adds to the evidence that the recovery is losing what little forward momentum it had,” said Paul Ashworth, senior United States economist at Capital Economics.
A broader measure of unemployment, which includes people who are working part-time because they cannot find full-time jobs and people who have given up looking for work, rose to 17.1 percent from 16.7 percent in August.
The fact that the U.S. labor market remains in the doldrums 15 months after the recession ended could be problematic for Democrats in mid-term elections Nov. 2 who are struggling to find something positive to present to voters.
The Federal Reserve will be meeting November 2-3 to consider what steps to take to jump-start the economy. “Another weak private payroll employment number seems like it would intensify calls for the Fed to act,” said Nigel Gault, chief United States economist at IHS Global Insight. “We’d really need a big upside surprise to justify the case for not doing anything.”
