GoKawiil
Tech News
The U.S. economy added 165,000 jobs in October, topping forecasts, while the unemployment rate dipped slightly to 4.1%. At the same time, the number of Americans working part-time jobs increased by 339,000.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that workers' share of national income fell to 52.8% in the second quarter of 2026, the lowest level since records began in 1947, down from 53.6% the prior quarter. The decline comes even as Fortune 500 profits hit a record $2.1 trillion in 2025 and GDP grew 3.4%, while job growth slowed sharply and unemployment rose to 4.2% in September.
The Labor Department reported only 29,000 new jobs in September 2026, far below the 90,000 economists expected, while unemployment edged up to 4.2% from 4.1%. Revisions cut a combined 60,000 jobs from July and August figures, and annual wage growth slowed to 3%, its weakest pace since May 2021.
A new Burning Glass Institute analysis, reported by the Wall Street Journal, shows workers aged 22-34 without college degrees are experiencing some of their lowest unemployment rates in decades, while their degree-holding peers face one of their worst job markets in years. Chief economist Gad Levanon says this shift appears structural rather than temporary.
The Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP) has developed the True Rate of Unemployment, a metric built from Bureau of Labor Statistics data that counts people without full-time work, those earning below a living wage of roughly $26,000 a year, and those with no job at all. The measure aims to give a fuller picture of financial hardship than the official unemployment rate captures.