Employment Situation

September 2025 | Released November 20, 2025

+119K
Change in nonfarm payroll jobs
Aug 2025 to Sep 2025

+0.1 percent
Change in unemployment rate
Aug 2025 to Sep 2025

+0.1 percent
Change in labor force participation rate
Aug 2025 to Sep 2025

From August 2025 to September 2025:

• Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 119K.
  • Private sector payroll employment increased by 97K.
  • Government payroll employment increased by 22K.
• The headline unemployment rate (U-3) increased by 0.1 percentage points to 4.4 percent.
  • The broadest measure of unemployment (U-6, which adds underemployment to unemployment), decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 8.0 percent.
• The labor force participation rate (LFPR) increased by 0.1 percentage points to 62.4 percent.

From August 2025 to September 2025:

• The best performing sectors were private education and health services (+59K) and leisure and hospitality (+47K).
• The worst performing sectors were professional and business services (-20K) and manufacturing (-6K).

From September 2024 to September 2025:

• The best performing sectors were private education and health services (+823K) and leisure and hospitality (+235K).
• The worst performing sectors were manufacturing (-94K) and federal government (-90K).

From September 2024 to September 2025:

• For all employees on private nonfarm payrolls:
  • Average nominal weekly earnings increased by 3.79 percent.
  • Average nominal hourly earnings increased by 3.79 percent.
• For production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls:
  • Average nominal weekly earnings increased by 3.78 percent.
  • Average nominal hourly earnings increased by 3.79 percent.

Table 1. Labor Indicators

	Sep 2025	Aug 2025	M/M change	Sep 2024	Y/Y change
Payroll jobs
Nonfarm	159.626M	159.507M	119K	158.314M	1.312M
Private	136.028M	135.931M	97K	134.852M	1.176M
Unemployment
Official rate (U-3)	4.4%	4.3%	0.1pp	4.1%	0.3pp
Broader rate (U-6)	8.0%	8.1%	-0.1pp	7.7%	0.3pp
Labor force participation rate
16 years and over	62.4%	62.3%	0.1pp	62.7%	-0.3pp
Prime age (25-54 years)	83.7%	83.7%	0.0pp	83.8%	-0.1pp
Employment-to-Population Ratio	59.7%	59.6%	0.1pp	60.1%	-0.4pp

Table 2. Earnings Indicators

	Sep 2025	Aug 2025	M/M change	Sep 2024	Y/Y change
Production and non-supervisory
Hourly earnings	$31.53	$31.45	0.25%	$30.38	3.79%
Weekly earnings	$1,062.56	$1,056.72	0.55%	$1,023.81	3.78%
All employees
Hourly earnings	$36.67	$36.58	0.25%	$35.33	3.79%
Weekly earnings	$1,254.11	$1,251.04	0.25%	$1,208.29	3.79%

Table 3. Revisions

	1st	2nd	3rd	Net revision
Nonfarm jobs added
August 2025	22K	-4K		-26K
July 2025	73K	79K	72K	-1K
June 2025	147K	14K	-13K	-160K

Table 4. Comparison to ADP Estimate

	BLS	ADP	Difference
Private nonfarm jobs added	97K	-29K	126K

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey

August 2025 | Released September 30, 2025

+19K
Change in nonfarm job openings
Jul 2025 to Aug 2025

-114K
Change in nonfarm hires
Jul 2025 to Aug 2025

-110K
Change in nonfarm separations
Jul 2025 to Aug 2025

Job Openings: The total number of nonfarm job openings increased by 19K to 7.23 million, and the rate remained unchanged at 4.3 percent.

• The best performing sectors were leisure and hospitality (+97K) and private education and health services (+94K).
• The worst performing sectors were construction (-115K) and federal government (-61K).

Hires: The total number of nonfarm hires decreased by 114K to 5.13 million, and the rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 3.2 percent.

• The best performing sectors were construction (+22K) and other services (+6K).
• The worst performing sectors were trade, transportation, and utilities (-91K) and leisure and hospitality (-31K).

Separations: The total number of nonfarm separations decreased by 110K to 5.11 million, and the rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 3.2 percent.

• Quits decreased by 75K to 3.09 million, and the rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 1.9 percent.
• Layoffs and discharges decreased by 62K to 1.73 million, and the rate remained unchanged at 1.1 percent.
• Other separations increased by 26K to 295K, and the rate remained unchanged at 0.2 percent.

Table 5. JOLTS Level Indicators

	Aug 2025	Jul 2025	M/M change	Aug 2024	Y/Y change
Job openings level
Nonfarm	7.227M	7.208M	19K	7.649M	-422K
Private	6.457M	6.401M	56K	6.638M	-181K
Hire level
Nonfarm	5.126M	5.240M	-114K	5.230M	-104K
Private	4.805M	4.918M	-113K	4.862M	-57K
Separation level
Nonfarm	5.111M	5.221M	-110K	5.170M	-59K
Private	4.781M	4.907M	-126K	4.853M	-72K

Table 6. JOLTS Rate Indicators

	Aug 2025	Jul 2025	M/M change	Aug 2024	Y/Y change
Job openings rate
Nonfarm	4.3%	4.3%	0.0pp	4.6%	-0.3pp
Private	4.5%	4.5%	0.0pp	4.7%	-0.2pp
Hire rate
Nonfarm	3.2%	3.3%	-0.1pp	3.3%	-0.1pp
Private	3.5%	3.6%	-0.1pp	3.6%	-0.1pp
Separation rate
Nonfarm	3.2%	3.3%	-0.1pp	3.3%	-0.1pp
Private	3.5%	3.6%	-0.1pp	3.6%	-0.1pp

Upcoming releases

Date	Time	Release	Data source
Nov 26	08:30 AM	Monthly GDP Update, Q3 2025 Second Estimate	Bureau of Economic Analysis
Nov 26	10:00 AM	Monthly Expenditures Update, October 2025	Bureau of Economic Analysis
Dec 04	08:30 AM	Monthly Trade Update, October 2025	Bureau of Economic Analysis
Dec 05	10:00 AM	Monthly Debt Update, December 2025	U.S. Treasury
Dec 11	10:00 AM	Monthly Fiscal Update, November 2025	U.S. Treasury
Dec 16	08:30 AM	Monthly Employment Update, November 2025	Bureau of Labor Statistics
Dec 19	08:30 AM	Monthly GDP Update, Q3 2025 Third Estimate	Bureau of Economic Analysis
Dec 19	10:00 AM	Monthly Expenditures Update, November 2025	Bureau of Economic Analysis

Notes

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics; ADP National Employment Report; JEC Republicans calculations

“pp” = percentage points; “M/M” = month over month; “Y/Y” = year over year

Consistent with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, monthly figures are seasonally adjusted. Discrepancy in change figures is possible due to rounding.