US temporary help services jobs rose by 2.9% in September on a year-over-year basis, the same pace as in August, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compared to August, the number of US temp jobs rose by 10,600. And a revision to the previous month’s report increased the gain of temp jobs in August to 12,400 from the previously reported gain of 10,000.

The temp penetration rate — temporary jobs as a percent of total employment — was 2.05% in September, compared to 2.04% in August.

“Hurricane Florence had a notable impact on the September jobs report, deflating the monthly change in employment to a mild 134,000,” said Tony Gregoire, research director at Staffing Industry Analysts. “As the hurricane’s impact on the September reference period deflated employment growth from August to September, it will inflate the change from September to October in next month’s report. The hurricane likely also affected certain industries disproportionately and may be a factor behind the relative weakness in leisure and hospitality for the month.”

Total nonfarm jobs rose by 134,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis in September. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, in health care, and in transportation and warehousing. MarketWatch reported the increase in hiring was the smallest in the last 12 months and below the recent trend, perhaps reflecting the effects of Hurricane Florence. Its poll of economists had forecast jobs would rise by 168,000.

The US unemployment rate fell to 3.7% in September, down from 3.9% in August and the lowest rate since December 1969. The college-level unemployment rate — which can serve as a proxy for professional employment — edged down to 2.0% in September from 2.1% in August.

The tightening of the labor market is leading to wage acceleration, according to Gad Levanon, chief economist, North America, at The Conference Board. In the past four quarters, average hourly earnings increased by 2.8% and accelerated to 3.1% in the past two quarters. The acceleration in wages is especially visible among blue-collar occupations, where it is essentially back to pre-recession rates.

“The US economy is growing rapidly now, and we expect this trend to continue in the coming quarters, meaning that the demand for workers should not slow down,” Levanon said in a statement. “In the past 12 months, the US economy added over 2.5 million jobs. Will an economy at a 3.7% unemployment rate be able to add that many jobs in the next 12 months? That will be challenging.”

Levanon added that The Conference Board expects employers to more rapidly do what they have been doing in recent quarters: automate, increase working hours and pull people back to the labor force, especially young men, whose labor force participation rate has barely recovered. At the same time, the labor market will continue to get tighter with the unemployment rate reaching 3.5% or lower in 2019, accompanied by rising inflation pressures.

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