US Economy Adds Meager 29,000 Jobs in September

The US economy added only 29,000 jobs in September, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This is a significant drop compared to August's 162,000 new jobs.

The unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 4.2 percent, but remains below 5 percent since August 2021. The BLS revised its previous job numbers downward, showing the market lost 10,000 jobs in July and added only 133,000 in August.

Jerry Tempelman, vice president of economic and fixed income research at Mutual of America Capital Management, expressed concern about the labor market's durability after the Federal Reserve's first interest rate increase since 2023. The rate hike was motivated by concerns over inflation, which has remained above the Fed's 2 percent target for more than five years.

Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, suggested that a softer-than-expected jobs report could put an October Federal Reserve rate hike 'firmly on the back foot'. Multiple FOMC officials have forecasted future rate hikes while cautioning they will continue to monitor incoming economic data.