Below, EPI economists offer their initial insights on the September jobs report released today. After a relatively weak August, only 194,000 jobs were added in September.

From EPI senior economist, Elise Gould (@eliselgould):

Read the full Twitter thread here. 

The bounce back in local government education was weaker than expected for schools reopening in September and seasonally adjusted K-12 employment fell by 144,000.
For more context for this seasonal adjustment, read: https://t.co/B1Ft2TdRrS

— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) October 8, 2021

The weaker growth in payroll employment in September barely registers on the chart, rising by 194,000 jobs. So far this year, monthly job growth has averaged 561,000. If we can get the virus under control, the recovery can continue stronger. pic.twitter.com/XfVxkxKtir

— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) October 8, 2021

Public education employment did in fact rise with the re-opening of schools in September (see blue line), just not on a seasonally adjusted basis (red line). The increase was not large enough by historical standards to offset the seasonal adjustment. pic.twitter.com/jP236mH9Bx

— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) October 8, 2021

From EPI president, Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz):

Read the full Twitter thread here. 

WHOA. THE DELTA VARIANT LEAVES ITS MARK. We added 194,000 jobs in Sept, and the average job growth of the last two months (the delta period) was 280,000. This compares to an average of 889,000 per month in the prior three months. A related aside: get the jab, folks. 1/

— Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz) October 8, 2021

This is yet another sign that the strong wage growth we have seen in some industries this year is not a permanent shift in worker bargaining power, but a temporary result of the (very) unique circumstances of this recovery. 3/

— Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz) October 8, 2021