The September jobs report has left economics experts shocked at the “surprisingly strong” numbers, with many again suggesting the U.S. is having a “soft landing” from the effects of the COVID pandemic and see little chance of recession ahead.
“Employers added 336,000 jobs last month, sharply more than the 170,000 economists had predicted,” The New York Times reported Friday.
CNBC called it “a whopping 336,000 new job,” and adds the unemployment rate is unchanged, at a near-historic low of 3.8%.
Economist and Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government professor Jason Furman explained his immediate reaction to the huge jobs numbers news.
“First reaction to jobs numbers: Shock
Second reaction: Nervousness
Further reflection: This could be quite good
336K jobs, participation remains high, wage growth moderated further. We could be in the middle of a sustainable increase in labor supply.”
“Just how good is the September jobs report?” asked Washington Post economic columnist Heather Long. “In the past 3 months, the US has averaged +266,000 job gains a month. That’s better than the first half of 2023 when the average was +257,000/month. Bottom line: This looks more like a soft landing than a recession.”
Long adds, “Almost no one predicted this good news story.”
Indeed, some experts took the opportunity to mock the naysayers who for well over a year have been predicting recession, or claiming the tremendous jobs growth under President Biden was not sustainable.
Bharat Ramamurti, the former Deputy Director, of the National Economic Council wrote: “On the occasion of today’s blockbuster jobs report, it’s good to look back on this prediction from almost exactly a year ago.”
President Joe Biden will address the nation at 11:30 AM ET to discuss the jobs report. After the report was released he said on social media, “September was another good month for American workers, with 336,000 jobs created and inflation coming down. That’s nearly 14 million jobs – including 815,000 in manufacturing – created under Bidenomics.”
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