Job growth slowed nationwide in September and unemployment numbers edged down slightly, suggesting the economy is still growing, the federal government reported Friday.
Maryland employment recruiters said it is getting tougher to find jobs in the state, but the state?s unemployment numbers won?t be released until Oct. 20.
The federal Bureau of Labor statistics reported that nonfarm employers only added 51,000 jobs to the work force in September, the lowest job growth this year. Economic analysts had expected employers to add 120,000 jobs. In August, 188,000 jobs were added. The bureau also reported that the unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.6 percent from 4.7 percent.
The figures suggest that though the economy has moved into a slower phase of growth, it is not in danger of sliding into a recession, analysts said.
“The decline in the unemployment rate will be seen as a signal that growth may not be slowing as sharply as the payroll survey suggests,” said Nigel Gault, U.S. economist with Global Insight, an economic and financial forecasting company based in New York.
Gault said that as long as the unemployment rate continues to fall, it “dashes the notion that the Fed might be cutting interest rates soon.”
The bureau reported that the unemployment rate for most major working groups ? adult women (4.2 percent), teenagers (16.4 percent), whites (4 percent), blacks (9.2 percent) and Hispanics (5.4 percent) ? showed little or no change. Adult male unemployment was 3.8 percent in September.
Each month for the entire year, the unemployment rate has fluctuated from 4.6 percent to 4.8 percent.
Maryland?s unemployment tends to be below the national average.
While the state has typically had a shortage of high-skill workers, employment recruiters are finding it harder to find entry-level workers.
“It?s getting harder to fill jobs in Maryland,” said Wendy Jackson, manager of the Annapolis branch of Manpower, a Milwaukee-based company that helps employers with everything from permanent to temporary workers as well as employee assessment, training and consulting.
“It?s administrative jobs that are becoming harder to fill,” Jackson said.
