Oct. 5, 2020
Pandemic employment still gaining, but at a slower rate
By Mary Hightower
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Fast facts:
- Labor market regains about half of pre-COVID losses
- Service sector leads jobs gains
(331 words)
(Newsrooms: See related story at https://bit.ly/3lgDWiM)
(Download charts at https://flic.kr/s/aHsmRdqsMH)
(Download this story in MS Word format here.)
LITTLE ROCK — The service sector, buoyed by a summertime boost in consumer spending on some recreational pursuits, led the way in job gains in September, though the overall growth rate has cooled some, according to an analysis of an Oct. 2 “Employment Situation” report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
September saw 661,000 total nonfarm payroll jobs added. However, September’s job growth was the slowest since the jobs recovery began in May, with less than half of August’s employment gain of 1.489 million jobs.
“To be fair, the slowing pace of job recovery was expected: the massive spike in re-employment associated with widespread state re-openings has largely passed,” economist John Anderson said. “The economy is now back to the mode of trying to manage more incremental growth as consumer behavior slowly inches back toward normal.”
Anderson is head of the agricultural economics and agribusiness department for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural Food and Life Sciences. He has been providing pandemic-related analyses of the economy since March.
His analysis of the September Employment Situation report is at https://bit.ly/3nbo3vz.
“Since May, the economy has added back 11.4 million jobs against the 22.2 million that were lost in March and April,” he said. “The unemployment rate in September clocked in at 7.9 percent, edging down from August’s 8.4 percent.”
Anderson said the largest gains were “not surprisingly, in the service-providing sector, reflecting the ongoing recovery in food service and travel- and leisure-related industries.”
Total gains in the service-providing category amounted to 784,000 jobs. This compares with gains of 93,000 jobs in the goods-producing sector.
“The labor market has only recovered about half of COVID-related losses,” Anderson said. “As with the unemployment rate, further gains will be harder to come by as the pace of COVID recovery slows. This will likely be the case until consumers regain the confidence to fully resume their normal, pre-COVID patterns of behavior.“
To learn more about extension and research programs in Arkansas, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk, @uaex_edu or @ArkAgResearch.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
# # #
Media Contact: Mary Hightower
Chief Communications Officer
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
mhightower@uada.edu
501-671-2006