WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that 336,000 jobs were added in September, beating expectations. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.8% (seasonally adjusted), and the number of unemployed persons rose to 6.4 million. The labor force participation held steady at 62.8%.
For women:
- The unemployment rate for adult women ticked down to 3.1% from 3.2%.
- The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.5% from 4.7% for black women and to 4.3% from 4.4% for Hispanic women.
- Women’s labor force participation ticked down to 57.5%, still below its February 2020 (pre-pandemic) level.
Patrice Onwuka, director of the Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) at Independent Women’s Forum, issued the following statement:
“There are three concerning trends in today’s jobs report: unbridled government expansion is propping up jobs growth, high-paying private sector jobs are shrinking while lower-paying jobs are growing, and women are increasingly forced to take on multiple jobs to make ends meet because of today’s affordability crisis.
“Nearly a third of jobs created last month were in leisure and hospitality. Most of those jobs were at food service and drinking places—jobs that do not tend to be high-paying. For older workers on a fixed budget and women, these job prospects are not much help against inflation and high living costs.
“One out of five new jobs created last month were government positions. September’s public sector jobs growth outpaced its monthly average by about 30,000 jobs signaling a massive hiring spree. Some 40% of these jobs were in education, which is understandable as school systems staffed up for the new school year. However, nearly as many were non-education jobs. Massive government spending is artificially driving hiring right now.
“In addition, workers, particularly women, are increasingly adding second jobs. Over 400,000 workers now hold multiple jobs with the largest growth among those adding a part-time job to their full-time employment. Women are more likely than men to hold down multiple jobs. Sustained high costs are pushing Americans to make ends meet in new ways. This is Bidenomics at work.”
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Independent Women’s Forum is dedicated to developing and advancing policies that aren’t just well intended but actually enhance people’s freedom, choices, and opportunities.
Independent Women’s Forum’s Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) aims to educate the public about how government policies impact people’s opportunities for economic development and upward mobility.