Employment Situation

September 2026 | Released October 02, 2026

+29K
Change in nonfarm payroll jobs
Aug 2026 to Sep 2026

+0.1 percent
Change in unemployment rate
Aug 2026 to Sep 2026

+0.2 percent
Change in labor force participation rate
Aug 2026 to Sep 2026

From August 2026 to September 2026:

• Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 29K to 159.04 million.
  • Private sector payroll employment increased by 46K to 135.72 million.
  • Government payroll employment decreased by 17K to 23.33 million.
• The headline unemployment rate (U-3) increased by 0.1 percentage points to 4.2 percent.
  • The broadest measure of unemployment (U-6, which adds underemployment to unemployment) decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 7.6 percent.
• The labor force participation rate (LFPR) increased by 0.2 percentage points to 61.8 percent.

From August 2026 to September 2026:

• The best performing sectors were private education and health services (+20K) and trade, transportation, and utilities (+18K).
• The worst performing sectors were state and local government (-16K) and information (-10K).

From September 2025 to September 2026:

• The best performing sectors were private education and health services (+516K) and professional and business services (+123K).
• The worst performing sectors were federal government (-232K) and information (-120K).

From September 2025 to September 2026:

• For all employees on private nonfarm payrolls:
  • Average nominal weekly earnings increased by 3.63 percent.
  • Average nominal hourly earnings increased by 3.02 percent.
• For production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls:
  • Average nominal weekly earnings increased by 3.6 percent.
  • Average nominal hourly earnings increased by 3.3 percent.

Table 1. Labor Indicators

	Sep 2026	Aug 2026	M/M change	Sep 2025	Y/Y change
Payroll jobs
Nonfarm	159.044M	159.015M	29K	158.548M	496K
Private	135.717M	135.671M	46K	135.005M	712K
Government	23.327M	23.344M	-17K	23.543M	-216K
Unemployment
Official rate (U-3)	4.2%	4.1%	0.1pp	4.4%	-0.2pp
Broader rate (U-6)	7.6%	7.7%	-0.1pp	8.1%	-0.5pp
Labor force participation rate
16 years and over	61.8%	61.6%	0.2pp	62.5%	-0.7pp
Prime age (25-54 years)	83.7%	83.4%	0.3pp	83.7%	0.0pp
Employment-to-Population Ratio	59.2%	59.1%	0.1pp	59.7%	-0.5pp

Table 2. Earnings Indicators

	Sep 2026	Aug 2026	M/M change	Sep 2025	Y/Y change
Production and non-supervisory
Hourly earnings	$32.60	$32.53	0.22%	$31.56	3.30%
Weekly earnings	$1,101.88	$1,099.51	0.22%	$1,063.57	3.60%
All employees
Hourly earnings	$37.81	$37.76	0.13%	$36.70	3.02%
Weekly earnings	$1,300.66	$1,298.94	0.13%	$1,255.14	3.63%

Table 3. Revisions

	1st	2nd	3rd	Net revision
Nonfarm jobs added
September 2026	29K
August 2026	162K	133K		-29K
July 2026	-23K	21K	-10K	13K

Table 4. Comparison to ADP Estimate

	BLS	ADP	Difference
Private nonfarm jobs added	46K	90K	-44K

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey

August 2026 | Released September 29, 2026

-256K
Change in nonfarm job openings
Jul 2026 to Aug 2026

+46K
Change in nonfarm hires
Jul 2026 to Aug 2026

-58K
Change in nonfarm separations
Jul 2026 to Aug 2026

Job Openings: The total number of nonfarm job openings decreased by 256K to 7.08 million, and the rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 4.3 percent.

• The best performing sectors were leisure and hospitality (+61K) and information (+45K).
• The worst performing sectors were professional and business services (-119K) and private education and health services (-101K).

Hires: The total number of nonfarm hires increased by 46K to 5.19 million, and the rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 3.3 percent.

• The best performing sectors were state and local government (+46K) and manufacturing (+39K).
• The worst performing sectors were construction (-50K) and information (-18K).

Separations: The total number of nonfarm separations decreased by 58K to 5.07 million, and the rate remained unchanged at 3.2 percent.

• Quits decreased by 23K to 3.07 million, and the rate remained unchanged at 1.9 percent.
• Layoffs and discharges decreased by 61K to 1.64 million, and the rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 1 percent.
• Other separations increased by 26K to 363K, and the rate remained unchanged at 0.2 percent.

Table 5. JOLTS Level Indicators

	Aug 2026	Jul 2026	M/M change	Aug 2025	Y/Y change
Job openings level
Nonfarm	7.079M	7.335M	-256K	6.919M	160K
Private	6.348M	6.562M	-214K	6.199M	149K
Hire level
Nonfarm	5.192M	5.146M	46K	5.145M	47K
Private	4.846M	4.847M	-1K	4.851M	-5K
Separation level
Nonfarm	5.070M	5.128M	-58K	5.207M	-137K
Private	4.761M	4.785M	-24K	4.864M	-103K

Table 6. JOLTS Rate Indicators

	Aug 2026	Jul 2026	M/M change	Aug 2025	Y/Y change
Job openings rate
Nonfarm	4.3%	4.4%	-0.1pp	4.2%	0.1pp
Private	4.5%	4.6%	-0.1pp	4.4%	0.1pp
Hire rate
Nonfarm	3.3%	3.2%	0.1pp	3.2%	0.1pp
Private	3.6%	3.6%	0.0pp	3.6%	0.0pp
Separation rate
Nonfarm	3.2%	3.2%	0.0pp	3.3%	-0.1pp
Private	3.5%	3.5%	0.0pp	3.6%	-0.1pp

Upcoming releases

Date	Time	Release	Data source
Oct 06	08:30 AM	Monthly Trade Update, August 2026	Bureau of Economic Analysis
Oct 07	10:00 AM	Monthly Debt Update, October 2026	U.S. Treasury
Oct 14	08:30 AM	Monthly Inflation Update, September 2026	Bureau of Labor Statistics
Oct 14	10:00 AM	Monthly Fiscal Update, September 2026	U.S. Treasury
Oct 20	10:00 AM	State Employment and Unemployment, September 2026	Bureau of Labor Statistics
Oct 29	08:30 AM	Monthly Expenditures Update, September 2026	Bureau of Economic Analysis
Oct 29	08:30 AM	Monthly GDP Update, Q3 2026 Advance Estimate	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.