September employment report shows again the limited role of unemployment benefits – .

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Job growth – 194,000 new payrolls – was well below expectations in September and slowed compared to previous months. The labor force, a measure that counts workers and those actively looking for work, fell by 183,000 from August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This Labor Day “cliff” affected an estimated 8.5 million Americans, according to Labor Department data. More than 2 million others have obtained a reduction of $ 300 in their weekly benefits.More from Personal Finance:
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Some economists and policymakers believed federal benefits were holding back the recovery. It is becoming increasingly clear that other factors, in particular the Covid Delta wave, have played a larger role in limiting economic activity, according to labor experts.
“All the evidence points to a pandemic [unemployment benefits] not being the main factor, ”said Nick Bunker, director of economic research for North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab. “The best guess at the moment is that it’s the pandemic itself.
“This is still a report on jobs in the delta wave era,” Bunker added.
Muted role
However, economic analyzes found that the withdrawals did not trigger the expected jobs rush. Some have even found negative effects.
While any positive impacts on job growth have been “relatively muted” so far, that could change later this year and as households deplete any accumulated savings, according to Daniel Zhao, senior economist at the Glassdoor job site.
Private sector employment growth averaged 488,000 over the three-month period to September. This is a significant slowdown from recent months: employment growth averaged 652,000 and 726,000 for the three months ended August and July, respectively.
“Shocking as today’s employment numbers are, the decline in the workforce is even more troubling,” said Neil Bradley, executive vice president and director of policy at the Chamber of Commerce the United States. “We are in the midst of a labor shortage crisis and the number of potential workers is shrinking. “