Jobs report much weaker than expected — Wage growth falls to lowest in 5 years. In addition to weak September jobs report, previous two months also revised lower.

Employment in the United States grew by 29,000 jobs in September, missing analysts’ expectations significantly, with the unemployment rate rising slightly to 4.2 percent, government data showed on Friday.

Adding to the weak data, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) also revised down job figures for July and August by a combined 60,000 jobs, the department said in a statement.

The revision to July’s data showed that the world’s largest economy lost jobs that month, as opposed to posting a gain of 21,000 as previously reported.

The data comes ahead of key midterm elections in November where President Donald Trump’s Republican Party is facing a stern test over his handling of the economy.

Trump’s top economic advisor Kevin Hassett said he was “not even a little bit” disappointed in Friday’s data.

https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/us-posts-weak-job-growth-132758582.html

In addition to the weakness in September, the August jobs count was revised lower to reflect a gain of 133,000 while July switched from a gain to a loss as payrolls fell by 10,000. The revisions in total showed 60,000 fewer jobs than previously reported.

Market reaction was swift to the report, with traders interpreting the soft jobs numbers as good news as they likely further cemented the Federal Reserve staying put at its October meeting.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/02/jobs-report-september-2026.html