US September employment · Bureau of Labor Statistics data · Retrieved October 12
US jobs increased, but government jobs fell
Subtract the government decline from the private-sector gain to get the overall change.
Does a rise in jobs mean employers everywhere were hiring more?
Separate the gains from the losses.
① Private and government jobs moved apart
Private employers had about 46,000 more jobs than in August.
Government had about 17,000 fewer jobs.
The bar lengths show the size of the gain and the loss.
② The total combines gains and losses
Subtracting the government decline leaves an overall gain of about 29,000 jobs.
The overall gain is not a count of every newly filled job.
This total covers nonfarm jobs, meaning farm jobs are excluded.
③ Yet unemployment rose
The unemployment rate rose from 4.1% in August to 4.2% in September.
Job counts come from an employer survey; unemployment comes from a household survey.
More jobs did not mean a lower unemployment rate this month.
④ What this means for your household
This statistical report does not directly change your paycheck or bills, in the US or elsewhere.
If you are job hunting, look at your field alongside the national total.
- Does your field move in the same direction as the total?
- Which parts gained jobs, and which lost them?
- What does unemployment show alongside the job count?
If you are job hunting, check actual openings in your field too.
⑤ These may differ from the original release
These calculations use data retrieved on October 12.
August and September job counts are preliminary and may change.
In the next report, check both the new figures and revisions to earlier months.
Miyang sums it upPrivate gains minus government losses give the overall gain. I checked the subtraction between naps.
Going deeper: the tracking record
We compare the same release over time and check these questions again when the next one comes out.
⑥ Look back a month and a year
September's total job count was above both August and the previous September.
September had about 159,044,000 nonfarm jobs.
These bars alone do not show whether jobs increased every month in between.
⑦ Check the next employment report
Check the Bureau of Labor Statistics' next monthly employment data.
Look again at the directions of total jobs and unemployment.
Did the total job count rise in the next month?
- Today's value
- 2026년 9월 비농업 일자리 159,044,000개
- How to read it
- If the total is higher, gains exceeded losses across nonfarm jobs.
- When
- No date in the source · checked at the next release
Did the unemployment rate fall in the next month?
- Today's value
- 2026년 9월 실업률 4.2%
- How to read it
- If the rate is lower, its direction reversed after this month's rise.
- When
- No date in the source · checked at the next release