US job growth significantly weaker than initially reported

• Revised by 818,000 jobs, this is the largest decline in the labor market report since 2009.

The US labor market was not as strong as portrayed in April 2023 to March 2024.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revised its estimate of total employment for the period downward by 818,000 from the original report.

This is the sharpest downgrade of its kind since 2009.

The resulting significantly weaker jobs report means that the U.S. economy is estimated to have added an average of 173,500 new jobs per month, instead of the reported 242,000.

According to BLS data, the professional and business services industry was revised downward by 1.6 percent, while the information services industry was downgraded by 2.3 percent.

As mentioned above, the revised figures come from the quarterly Employment and Wage Census, which uses data from state unemployment insurance records and actual payrolls.

The downward revision of the labor market figures comes at a time when employment growth in the US has slowed in recent months. The July report showed only 114,000 new jobs created.

In addition, the Federal Reserve continues to consider the right time to cut interest rates, and whether this latest revised jobs report will factor into those discussions may become clear at its September 17 meeting.

The Fed's key interest rate has been in the range of 5.25 to 5.50 percent for over a year. Analysts expect a possible cut of a quarter of a percent next month.