Employment rose by an estimated 64,000 in September, bringing gains so far this year to 173,000 (+1.2%). September’s job growth resulted in a drop in the number of unemployed, causing the unemployment rate to fall 0.3 points to 7.5%, its lowest level since June 1990.

Full-time employment shows strong growth

September’s job growth was all in full-time work. Although overall employment growth has been slower this year (+1.2%) compared with 1998 (+2.0%), full-time gains have been stronger. Over the first nine months of 1999, full-time work increased 1.9% while part time fell 1.8%. In contrast, over the same period in 1998, full-time employment increased 1.4% while part time jumped 4.7%. As a result, growth in the number of hours worked since the beginning of the year (+1.1%) is similar to the increase observed over the first nine months of 1998 (+1.0%).

More than half of the increase in full-time employment in September was among adult women (+41,000). However, part-time employment for adult women fell by 25,000. Among adult men, employment rose by 21,000, all in full-time jobs.

In the past year, employment growth has been almost twice as strong for adult women (+3.0%) as for adult men (+1.8%), with the gains for both groups all in full-time work. During the same period, the unemployment rate for adult women fell 1.1 points to 5.9%, while the rate for adult men declined 0.8 points to 6.3%.