Job growth screeches to halt...
....a mix report rising wages associated with diminishing job growth, now rising wages may lead the job growth by two months..
Gains would have been 50,000 without storm
By Rex Nutting, CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 8:30 AM ET Oct 8, 1999 Bond Report
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Job growth weakened sharply in September, the Labor Department reported Friday, saying 8,000 jobs were lost during the month.
Average hourly pay rose 0.5 percent to $13.37, bring the annual increase to 3.5 percent.
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The decline in jobs should cheer nervous stock and bond markets, which are fretting that the Federal Reserve will boost interest rates one more time in November to counter a strong economy. The big jump in wages will temper the markets' enthusiasm, however.
Hurricane Floyd cut about 58,000 jobs, the department estimated. "But employment growth was weak even in those areas and industries largely unaffected by the hurricane," said Katharine G. Abraham, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The unemployment rate was steady at 4.2 percent. The average workweek dipped six minutes to 34.4 hours.
A group of economists polled by CBS.MarketWatch.com was looking for gains of 221,000 in nonfarm payrolls, an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent and a rise of 0.3 percent in hourly wages. See Economic Forecast.
The department also revised August's job growth lower to 103,000 from the previous estimate of 124,000. July's gains were revised higher to 373,000 from 338,000.
The weakness in payroll growth was widespread. Service-producing industries lost 9,000 jobs, the first decline since March 1993. The department said the hurricane probably cost about 45,000 jobs, so without the hurricane, about 36,000 jobs would have been created, a far cry from the 210,000 average over the past year.
Manufacturing continued to lose jobs, shedding 21,000 workers. The manufacturing workweek was steady at 41.8 hours and 4.7 hours of overtime. Construction added 21,000 workers. |
