Gallup Payroll To Population Report Steady

The U.S. Gallup Good Jobs rate was 45.3 percent in September. This is the same as the rate measured in August, and the highest Gallup has measured for any September since tracking began in 2010. The good jobs rate has declined every September from the level measured in August since Gallup began tracking employment in 2010. The fact that the rate did not decline this past month represents a small diversion from seasonal trends in the direction of higher full-time employment.

The percentage of U.S. adults participating in the workforce in September was 67.5 percent. This is up from the rate measured in August 2015 (66.9 percent) and in September of last year (67.2 percent). Since January 2010, the workforce participation rate has remained in a narrow range, from a low of 65.8 percent to a high of 68.5 percent. But since mid-2013, it has typically remained below 67.0 percent. Workforce participation is defined as the percentage of adults aged 18 and older who are working, or who are not working but are actively looking for work and are available for employment.

The unadjusted U.S. unemployment rate was 6.3 percent in September, steady with August's 6.3 percent and down three-tenths of a percentage point from the rate measured in September 2014. After years of gradual decline, Gallup's unemployment measurement has not substantially changed from the rate measured a year ago, apart from a temporary seasonal spike in January. Gallup's U.S. unemployment rate represents the percentage of adults in the workforce who did not have any paid work in the past seven days, for an employer or themselves, and who were actively looking for and available to work.