Fed Closely Watching Labor Market Amid Predicted Payroll Slowdown

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to release its September employment report on Friday at 8:30 a.m. EDT, and economists expect job growth to slow down from August.

The median estimate for total nonfarm payroll employment is 90,000, based on 27 estimates compiled by FactSet, with forecasts ranging from 60,000 to 130,000.

FactSet's estimates show that the September figure would be below the 162,000 jobs added in August and above the 50,300 average monthly gain recorded over the previous 12 months.