US Jobs Market Cools Down Amid Expectations of Fed Rate Freeze

The US jobs market showed signs of cooling down in September as employers added far fewer jobs than expected, leading to expectations that the Federal Reserve may leave interest rates unchanged in October.

The Labor Department reported on Friday that the US economy added only 29,000 jobs in September, well below the estimated 84,000 increase expected by economists. The unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1%, while the labor force participation rate edged up to 61.8%. Significant downward revisions were made to previous months' employment numbers, with July payroll growth revised from an initial increase of 21,000 to a decline of 10,000.

The weak jobs report had a mixed impact on gold prices. Initially, the metal gained more than 1% following the weak employment report, but it later fell as a stronger dollar and elevated Treasury yields outweighed earlier support. Spot gold declined 0.75% to $4,146.54 an ounce, while US gold futures settled 0.59% lower at $4,177.50.