September's Jobs Report

The employment outlook slowed slightly in September: The economy added 134,000 jobs over the month, compared with an average monthly gain of  201,000 over the prior 12 months. Nevertheless, the headline unemployment rate ticked down to 3.7 percent from 3.9 percent in August.

It's worth noting that we have now reached a remarkable eight straight years of monthly job growth. That's double the previous record. The unemployment rate is the lowest it's been in nearly 50 years, since 1969.

The key industries: Employment in professional and business services increased by 54,000 in September and has risen by 560,000  over the year. Health care employment rose by 26,000 jobs in September. Construction employment continued to trend up in September  with 23,000 new jobs. and has now added 315,000 jobs over the past 12 months.