U.S. job growth is a little better than average for the last 50 years

The U.S. jobs report came out this morning and it was a good one. The economy added 248,000 jobs in September, better than economists' estimates, and both the July and August numbers were revised upward.

But how are we doing over the long haul? The answer is, in terms of raw job growth, the U.S. is doing a little better than average.

Looking over the past 12 months, job growth in the U.S. was 1.9 percent. That is better than Minnesota's growth rate, and it's a little better than the U.S. average over the past 50 years, which is 1.76 percent year-over-year growth in September.

(Minnesota would have to add 12,800 jobs in September to match the U.S. average 12-month job growth rate. That's not out of the realm of possibility. The state added 13,600 jobs last October.)

Here's what's happened nationally over the past 10 years.

So while it's nothing to throw a ticker-tape parade over, that's a stair-step of progress.

Nationwide, factories have added 161,000 jobs since last September. Construction has added 230,000 jobs. Retail has added 264,000 jobs. Oil and gas extraction had the biggest 12-month percent change, but in the grand scheme of the economy, very few people work in that industry.

By far the biggest gainer in the past 12 months is a category called "administrative and support services," which is largely a low-wage sector. It's added 412,000 jobs since last September.

The most prominent occupations within the industry are janitors and cleaners, laborers and freight movers, and landscaping and groundskeeping workers -- all earning around $10 per hour, according to the BLS.

Here's a table. Numbers are in thousands. The red triangles signify that September's numbers are preliminary.