---
title: "Total Nonfarm Payrolls"
slug: total-nonfarm-payrolls
summary: "U.S. payroll jobs were little changed at 159.04 million in September 2026"
category: "Jobs"
unit: thousands
frequency: monthly
direction: bidirectional
latest_value: 159044.0
latest_period: "2026-09"
trend: stable
last_updated: "2026-10-02T00:00:00Z"
source: "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data retrieved via FRED"
source_url: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PAYEMS
canonical_html: https://americandefault.org/indicators/total-nonfarm-payrolls/
citation_apa: "Kilburn, R. (2026). Total Nonfarm Payrolls [Data set]. American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/total-nonfarm-payrolls/"
citation_chicago: "Kilburn, Ross. 2026. \"Total Nonfarm Payrolls.\" American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/total-nonfarm-payrolls/."
citation_mla: "Kilburn, Ross. \"Total Nonfarm Payrolls.\" American Default Research, 2026, americandefault.org/indicators/total-nonfarm-payrolls/."
---

# Total Nonfarm Payrolls

> U.S. payroll jobs were little changed at 159.04 million in September 2026

## Current Reading

As of September 2026, Total Nonfarm Payrolls is **159.04 million** (stable).

jobs on U.S. nonfarm payrolls, little changed from August 2026

## What Changed

- U.S. payroll jobs were little changed at 159.04 million in September 2026, within the survey's margin of error.
- Up 496,000 jobs from September 2025.
- The most jobs in BLS's current estimates, which go back to 1939.

## Recent Values

| Period | Value |
|--------|-------|
| 2026-09 | 159.044M |
| 2026-08 | 159.015M |
| 2026-07 | 158.882M |
| 2026-06 | 158.892M |
| 2026-05 | 158.861M |
| 2026-04 | 158.798M |
| 2026-03 | 158.65M |
| 2026-02 | 158.436M |
| 2026-01 | 158.592M |
| 2025-12 | 158.432M |
| 2025-11 | 158.449M |
| 2025-10 | 158.408M |

## Historical Context

- Peak since 1939: **159.04 million** in September 2026
- Low since 1939: **29.92 million** in January 1939
- Pre-pandemic average (2015-01 – 2019-12): **146.51 million**
- Post-pandemic average (2020-01 – 2024-12): **150.92 million**

## Methodology

This indicator carries monthly observations and is interpreted as moving in both directions against household distress, with no single end of the range reading as the distressed one. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data retrieved via FRED.
Automation: collected automatically on the daily refresh pipeline, with no hand entry.

## Source

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data retrieved via FRED — [https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PAYEMS](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PAYEMS)

Data retrieved: 2026-10-02T00:00:00Z

## Related Indicators

- [continued-unemployment-claims-sa](https://americandefault.org/indicators/continued-unemployment-claims-sa/)
- [indeed-job-postings-index-us](https://americandefault.org/indicators/indeed-job-postings-index-us/)
- [jolts-quits-rate](https://americandefault.org/indicators/jolts-quits-rate/)
- [the-second-job](https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-second-job/)
- [youth-unemployment-rate-16-24](https://americandefault.org/indicators/youth-unemployment-rate-16-24/)

## Machine-Readable Endpoints

- HTML page: https://americandefault.org/indicators/total-nonfarm-payrolls/
- JSON: https://americandefault.org/api/indicators/total-nonfarm-payrolls.json
- CSV: https://americandefault.org/api/downloads/total-nonfarm-payrolls.csv
- BibTeX: https://americandefault.org/citations/total-nonfarm-payrolls.bib
- RIS: https://americandefault.org/citations/total-nonfarm-payrolls.ris

## Citation

**APA 7th**

    Kilburn, R. (2026). Total Nonfarm Payrolls [Data set]. American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/total-nonfarm-payrolls/

**Chicago (author-date)**

    Kilburn, Ross. 2026. "Total Nonfarm Payrolls." American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/total-nonfarm-payrolls/.

**MLA 9th**

    Kilburn, Ross. "Total Nonfarm Payrolls." American Default Research, 2026, americandefault.org/indicators/total-nonfarm-payrolls/.

Use **American Default Research** as the institutional name in source lists, bibliographies, and press citations. **American Default** is the brand and URL form. **American Distress Index (ADI)** is the product name for the national composite score.