The Black unemployment rate rose from 6.0% to 7.0% in September, but employment and labor-force participation also rose. The number of unemployed grew by about 231,000, roughly twice the 110,000 gain in employment.
On Wednesday, BEA releases August personal income and spending and the third estimate of second-quarter GDP, and launches its 2026 annual update of the national, industry and regional accounts on the same day for the first time.
BLS releases August metro-area employment and unemployment estimates Wednesday, September 30. Until then, July is the latest official Atlanta benchmark, and Georgia's August statewide figures should not stand in for it.
The U.S. current-account deficit widened 15.7% to $246.0 billion in the second quarter, 3.0% of GDP, on a larger goods deficit. The figure measures trade and income flows, not hiring or layoffs.
New single-family home sales ran at a 684,000 annual rate in August, up an estimated 6.4% from July, but the ±19.5% margin of error means the increase is not statistically significant.
Durable-goods orders slipped $0.1 billion to $338.6 billion in August, virtually unchanged, as transportation fell 0.6%. Orders excluding transportation rose 0.3%. Orders are not a count of factory hiring.
BLS projects U.S. employment will grow 3.5% to 176.2 million by 2035, led by health care, with office support jobs shrinking fastest. Ten-year projections guide planning; they do not forecast local hiring.
