Employment fell by 263,000 jobs in September, according to today's preliminary report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an unexpectedly large decline following two months of relative improvement. The largest job losses were in construction, manufacturing, retail trade, and government. The economy has now shed 7.2 million jobs since the start of the recession in December 2007.
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Along with the preliminary report for September, the BLS issued its Final Estimate of job losses for July at a loss of 304,000 jobs, down 28,000 from its revised estimate of -276,000. It raised its August preliminary estimate up 15,000 jobs for a revised loss of 201,000 jobs. One more revision for August may still occur.
Looking at industry employment figures, health care employment grew by 19,200 in September. Employment in transportation and warehousing declined by 15,400 in September, and the finance and insurance sector lost 8,800 jobs.
As expected, the unemployment rate rose from 9.7 to 9.8 percent, the highest level since June 1983.
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