Unemployment Rate Hits Lowest in 50 years, Job Growth Moderates

The unemployment rate declined to 3.5% in September 2019, while total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 136,000, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The unemployment figure represented the lowest rate in close to 50 years. The BLS indicated that employment in health care and professional and business services continued trending up.

The labor force participation rate held at 63.2% in September, while the employment-population ratio of 61% was little changed over the month, but up 0.6% year over year.

Transwestern’s Jimmy Hinton indicated that the country is struggling to fill 7.2 million job openings, likely due to skills gaps and increasing wage demands. While payroll expansion and job growth are sluggish in the face of continued low unemployment rates, “we continue to see positive signals that can advise commercial real estate stakeholders toward a defensive late-cycle strategy,” Hinton said.

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