The September jobs report should put worker security ahead of the jobs count

September’s 7.1 million unemployed people included 1.9 million who had been jobless for at least 27 weeks — 27.1% of everyone unemployed. Those figures tell us nothing about an individual’s savings or benefits. They do show why a modest rise in payrolls offers limited comfort to someone whose search has already lasted months.

The Associated Press described a labor market with relatively low layoffs but subdued hiring. Keeping a job and finding a new one are different tests of economic security. Glassdoor chief economist Daniel Zhao said the difficulty of finding work made the prospect of a layoff more frightening.

The national rate also conceals unequal burdens. Unemployment among Black workers was 7.0% in September, up from 6.0% in August. The report does not explain the change, but officials should not treat the overall rate as a complete account of whom the labor market is serving.

An hourly raise is not a reliable paycheck

Average hourly pay for private-sector employees rose 5 cents in September, to $37.81, and was 3.0% higher than a year earlier. But an hourly average does not tell a worker with an uncertain schedule what the next pay period will bring. The average private-sector workweek held at 34.4 hours; that national figure does not erase the experience of people whose hours have been cut.

Nor does the unemployment rate include everyone who wants work. The agency separately counted 5.8 million people outside the labor force who said they wanted a job. They are not part of the official unemployed count. A policy debate confined to the unemployment rate misses their need for work, too.

CBS News reported that consumer prices were up 3.4% over the year through August and that wage growth had trailed inflation for five consecutive months. The August price reading and the September wage figure cover different periods; neither calculates what any particular household gained or lost. Still, rent, groceries and other bills must be paid even when available hours fall short.

Worker security means more than an opening on paper. It means enough hours, pay that can meet expenses and a viable way back to work after a job loss. The report does not prescribe how to deliver those things. It gives officials ample reason to explain what they intend to do.

Caution is not an excuse for inaction

The case for care is real. Unemployment has stayed between 4.1% and 4.3% since March, and the agency’s broader measure of labor underuse fell from 7.7% in August to 7.6% in September. Courthouse News Service reported that an NFIB survey found 32% of small-business owners had openings they could not fill, eight percentage points above the survey’s historical average. One disappointing month does not mean hiring has stopped everywhere.

Inflation also remains part of the problem. CBS reported that the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate in September as it pursued a 2% inflation target. Its officials should explain how their next decision weighs both prices and the cost of a prolonged job search. Neither concern cancels out the other.

Congress should put a bill extending unemployment-benefit duration for long-term job seekers to a vote. The administration should state how it intends to help people seeking full-time hours. Those are decisions and explanations within officials’ power — and more useful to workers than another argument over whether 29,000 jobs sounds like a good headline.