Health Care and Restaurants Support Modest Job Growth

Jobs Byte by Dean Baker

For Immediate Release: October 5, 2007

Contact: Alan Barber, (202) 293-5380 x115

The hourly wage has risen at a 4.3 percent annual rate since June.

The establishment survey showed the economy adding 110,000 jobs in September, 73,000 in the private sector. There were also substantial upward revisions to job growth reported for July and August, bringing the three month average for the economy as a whole to 97,000, and to 74,000 for the private sector.

The gain in private sector employment in September was more than accounted for by an increase of 44,000 jobs in the education and health services sector and 35,900 jobs in the accommodations and food services sector. These two sectors have accounted for all the private sector job growth over the last three months.

The household survey showed little change in the unemployment rate at 4.7 percent. The employment rate was also essentially unchanged at 62.9 percent, but it stands 0.5 percentage points below its cyclical peak of 63.4 percent last December. The falloff is attributable to declining employment rates among younger workers of both sexes, as workers over age 55 continue to get a disproportionate share of employment gains. They accounted for 238.5 percent of reported employment growth over the last three months and 72.0 percent of employment growth over the last year.

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