WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (Reuters) – The US economy created significantly fewer jobs than expected in September, possibly due to a lack of manpower, but hiring could pick up in the coming months as the economy slows. pandemic and the expiration of federal unemployment benefits.
The Labor Department on Friday reported 194,000 non-farm jobs created last month after 366,000 (revised) in August.
Economists polled by Reuters predicted an average of 500,000 job openings, with estimates ranging from 250,000 to 700,000.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.8% against 5.2% the previous month and the average hourly wage increased by 0.6%, against an expected increase of 0.4%, its growth at an annual rate. reaching 4.6%.
The lower-than-expected number of job creation could dampen expectations of a rapid acceleration in growth as the labor market and the economy as a whole continue to be held back by shortages of labor and raw materials .
The workforce could return to the labor market in the coming months after the expiration in early September of unemployment benefits funded by the federal government, blamed for the shortage of staff by companies and elected Republican.
The jobs report will be closely analyzed by the US central bank, which said last month that it may “soon” reduce its bond purchases in the markets.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell had said that “it would take a reasonably good employment report” to reach the level the central bank has set to scale back its securities buying program.
In the markets, the dollar, which was stable before the publication, trended lower against a basket of other major currencies (-0.2%), as did the yields on T-bills, the ten-year one. declining to 1.571% around 13:10 GMT.
Futures on the S & P-500 and Nasdaq indexes amplified their gains but the Dow Jones was indicated at breakeven.
Statistical table: (Report Lucia Mutikani, French version Laetitia Volga, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
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