WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. unemployment rate – now just 5.1 percent – grabs a lot of the attention each month when the government issues its jobs data. Yet the rate doesn’t come close to sketching a full picture of the job market.
So just how healthy is the U.S. labor market?
It’s a hard question to answer in the aftermath of the Great Recession, which produced only a tepid recovery and left damage that still isn’t fully repaired. It’s why the Federal Reserve has struggled to determine whether to raise interest rates from record lows: If the job market is back to normal, a rate hike may be justified. If not, the Fed should arguably postpone any increase.
The September jobs report coming out Friday morning will provide clues to the job market’s health that go beyond the unemployment rate.
Here are five things to look for: