US Labor Market Sputters as September Job Growth Falls Short
The US Labor Department released its September jobs report, which showed that nonfarm payrolls increased by just 29,000 in September, falling short of economists' expectations for growth of 84,000.
This is a significant slowdown from August's initial read of +162,000, which was revised down to +133,000. July's payroll growth of 21,000 was also revised back down to a loss (-10,000).
The unemployment rate climbed a notch to 4.2%, while economists were looking for it to stay flat at 4.1%. Average hourly earnings barely changed, growing 0.1% month-over-month, to $37.81.
On a year-over-year basis, that's 3.0% higher, which was below estimates for 3.1% and the slowest such rate in more than five years. Goldman Sachs economists noted that September payroll growth has tended to underperform its recent trend when Labor Day is later in the month.
The report also showed weakness in various sectors, including government payrolls, temporary help services, information, financial activities, mining and logging, leisure and hospitality, and local educational services payrolls.