US employers added 194,000 jobs to the payroll in September, falling short of the 500,000 projection

US employers added 194,000 jobs to the payroll in September, falling short of the 500,000 that were expected.

Supply chain bottlenecks and Covid-19 contributed to the unimpressive numbers, and despite a record number of job openings, many of those laid off have not returned to the job search. Friday’s report from the Labor Department showed that unemployment slipped more than expected, from 5.2 percent in August to 4.8 percent in September. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv had only expected unemployment to slip to 5.1 percent. 

The government doesn’t count people as unemployed unless they’re actively seeking jobs, therefore it remains possible that some may have ceased their search. The number of unemployed people fell to 7.7 million.  President Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain touted the report.

“The unemployment rate is now down to 4.8% in just eight months. We’ve created 2x more jobs under @POTUS in his first nine months than any administration in history,” Klain wrote on Twitter. In another tweet, he shared a New York Times analysis, and wrote: “The jobs numbers are pretty good actually…”

Republicans said the new figures proved the nation did not need the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill. “Joe Biden’s Jobs Crisis is getting worse. The latest jobs report fell far short of expectations, and the president continues to over promise and underdeliver,” Rep. Drew Ferguson, R-Ga., wrote on Twitter. “Clearly, his big government, trillion-dollar, socialist plans aren’t working. They’re just bankrupting Americans.”

“Joe Biden’s Build Back Broke agenda continues to hurt American workers, drive up the cost of everyday goods, and crush small businesses,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “The latest jobs report, creating 300,000 fewer jobs than expected, proves that trillions more in reckless spending and higher taxes will only further squander the economic recovery and leave working families behind. Americans cannot afford Biden’s disastrous Build Back Broke agenda.”

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said that Biden’s vaccine mandates will make the problem worse. “Our economy is hurting, and still @JoeBiden wants to force private businesses to mandate vaccines and fire Americans who won’t comply. He clearly doesn’t understand how the economy works,” he wrote on Twitter.  

CNN called the report the “worst of the year” and CNBC Squawk Box hosts reacted to the report with astonishment. “Whoa!” host Becky Quick said. “I see 194,000? That is real low,” Steve Liesman said. “Let me go to the jobless rate — wow, big decline, 4.8 percent, 5.1 was expected. Let me … see if I can find where the jobs were, and I think in this case, where the jobs weren’t.”

“It was definitely a weaker number than expected,” Liesman added. “September now coming in weaker than August … and I think that’s the big story here.”