Overview
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported nonfarm payrolls up by 119,000 in September as the jobless rate edged to 4.4%, with July–August payrolls revised down by about 33,000.
- Because October household data were not collected, there will be no standalone October unemployment rate; October establishment data will be released together with November’s on December 16.
- Hiring was led by health care (+43,000), food services and drinking places (+37,000) and social assistance (+14,000), while transportation and warehousing (-25,000) and manufacturing (-6,000) shed jobs.
- Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% on the month and 3.8% year over year to $36.67, and federal government employment fell by 3,000 in September, leaving it down about 97,000 this year.
- The mixed, backward‑looking snapshot provides the last official labor read before the Fed’s Dec. 9–10 meeting, complicating assessments of how much the labor market is cooling.