| DAYTON, OH – This morning the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics issued employment data for the month of September. The national unemployment rate for September was 4.2 percent. It was 4.4 percent in August. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said hurricane Harvey and Irma had “no discernible effect on the national unemployment rate.” In spite of the unemployment rate, which is at its lowest level since early 2001, the economy lost 33,000 jobs. The BLS reports a steep employment decline in food services and drinking places and below-trend growth in some other industries likely reflected the impact of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey. Employment rose in health care and in transportation and warehousing. “We continue to see hiring on a local level that’s similar to what we’ve seen in past months,” Barry said. “As we transition to colder weather we’ll see some areas of employment change.” For example, landscaping will trend downward while retail will pick up. BarryStaff is an award-winning employment agency that hires workers for more than 100 employers throughout the Miami Valley. The majority of them are in manufacturing. In manufacturing, the industry has added an average of 14,000 jobs per month from November of last year through August. New data shows that manufacturing employment was virtually unchanged in September. “We’re still seeing a worker shortage at all levels in the Miami Valley,” Barry said. Employment in other major industries, including mining, construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, information, and government, showed little change over the month. | 
