PAYEMS · as of 2026-09-01
Nonfarm Payrolls
All Employees, Total Nonfarm
View on FRED · PAYEMS ↗159,044k
yoy
▲ 0.31%
121 obs · monthly · thousands── 1y ago 158,548k
What it is
Labor strength. Strong = rent affordability strong = demand intact.
- source
- FRED
- frequency
- monthly
- units
- thousands
- s.a.
- yes
What it’s telling us · as of 2026-09-01
Nonfarm payrolls sit at 159.0 million, up 496,000 jobs year-over-year but the pace has flattened to a crawl—0.31% annual growth is essentially treading water compared to the 2.0–2.5% gains you saw through 2021–2023. The last seven months show jobs trickling in rather than surging, which means wage pressure is easing and tenant rent-payment capacity isn't getting a boost from employment growth. For operators, this is the signal that rent-raise room has tightened; you're competing on amenities and retention more than you could two years ago, and that softness in the labor market is why.
⟡ auto-generated weekly · claude-haiku-4-5 · reviewed before publish
Related metrics
Get the data
Python · fredapi
"""
Nonfarm Payrolls — Labor strength. Strong = rent affordability strong = demand intact.
Freq: monthly · Source: FRED
"""
from fredapi import Fred
fred = Fred(api_key="YOUR_FRED_API_KEY")
series = fred.get_series("PAYEMS")
print(series.tail())LLM prompt
You are analyzing FRED series PAYEMS — All Employees, Total Nonfarm. Context: Labor strength. Strong = rent affordability strong = demand intact. Attributes - Units: thousands - Frequency: monthly - Source: FRED Latest observation: 159,044k as of 2026-09-01 Year-over-year change: +0.31% Analyze this metric for a tech-forward real estate investor with 1–3 properties. What is it signaling right now? What should I watch next?