LABOR FORCE SLOW TO RETURN TO WORK

The Labor Department’s September jobs report showed only 194,000 new jobs were created last month, far fewer than originally predicted.  The slow growth suggests that the end of expanded federal unemployment benefits may not have been enough to drive a significant number of people back into the labor force.  In the food sector, employment in food services and drinking establishments was little changed for the second consecutive month, according to the jobs report released Friday. Employment in leisure and hospitality overall is still down by 1.6 million jobs, or 9.4 percent, since February 2020.

Separately, employment in retail trade rose by 56,000 jobs in September, following two months of little change. But within that category, employment in food and beverage stores declined by 12,000.