September jobs report misses expectations

September jobs report misses expectations

The U.S. economy added 29,000 jobs in September, falling short of economists’ expectations.

The unemployment rate also ticked up slightly to 4.2 percent , according to the data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

BLS initially reported that the economy added 162,000 jobs in August, on top of 21,000 jobs in July.

But it revised the past two months downward on Friday, now showing the market losing 10,000 jobs in July and adding 133,000 in August.

The latest jobs report “raises questions about the durability of the labor market after the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate increase since 2023,” Jerry Tempelman, vice president of economic and fixed income research at Mutual of America Capital Management, said in a statement.

The Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by a quarter point last month, marking its first rate increase in more than three years amid concerns about inflation.

Tempelman warned that the uptick in the jobless rate “warrants close attention, as rising joblessness in tandem with softer hiring could signal that the Fed’s tightening cycle may at some point constrain economic activity more meaningfully than anticipated.”

The unemployment rate has remained below 5 percent since August 2021, after it spiked to a peak of 14.8 percent in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic — the highest mark since the Great Depression.

Inflation, meanwhile, has remained above the Fed’s 2 percent target for more than five years, rising in recent months amid energy shocks from the Iran war.

Check out a full report at TheHill.com .

Welcome to The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter , I’m Julia Shapero — bringing you the latest on the intersection of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

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Key business and economic news with implications this week and beyond:

President Trump brushed off questions Friday over whether he jumped the gun in announcing that South Korea would fund a natural gas pipeline in Alaska, which South Korean officials have said is still under discussion.

President Trump said Friday that he will not ban exports of diesel after the Group of Seven (G7) major economies announced that they would release fuel from their stocks.

Once the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) merger is finalized, the resulting media empire will fall under a new name.

Amazon plans to invest $1 billion in communities where it builds data centers over the next five years, the company announced Friday.

Business and economic news we’ve flagged from other outlets:

Equities close higher as softer jobs data quiets rate-hike expectations ( Reuters )

Delta is the only Big Four airline that won’t use Starlink — and Elon Musk is furious ( Wall Street Journal )

President Trump’s motorcade put the pedal to the metal Thursday as stormy weather in the South spurred the president to drive from rallies in Texas to Oklahoma rather than fly. Read more

President Trump revealed in an interview published Thursday that he regrets nominating conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Read more

You’re all caught up. See you next week!