The Labor Department estimates U.S. employers added 29,000 jobs in September, a month when Federal Reserve officials viewed the labor market as stable even as economists said it remained challenging for unemployed workers to break in.
Payroll gains for past months were revised down, reflecting fewer summer hires than previously reported. The department now estimates U.S. employers added 133,000 jobs in August and lost 10,000 jobs in July.
The national unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% in September, up from 4.1% the month before. The labor force participation rate rose to 61.8%, up slightly from the 61.6% rate recorded in August after falling earlier this year.
Average hourly earnings for employees on private, nonfarm payrolls — calculated as
a mean — rose by 5 cents to $37.81 in September, the department said. Over the year, they increased 3%. The department's September inflation report due out Oct. 14 will reveal whether paychecks kept pace with rising prices last month. They did not in August and July.
Fed officials will review both reports ahead of their next meeting on Oct. 27 and 28. Ahead of the report, policymakers still appeared focused on consumers struggling with the cost of living after they voted last month to raise their benchmark for short-term interest rates to combat inflation.
See the jobs data
U.S. employers added 29,000 jobs in September and payroll gains for August and July were revised down.
The unemployment rate ticked up for the first time since February this year.
(This is a developing story that will be updated to add new information.)
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: September jobs report shows 29k jobs added, unemployment at 4.2%
