The Bureau of Labor Statistics said nonfarm payrolls rose by 29,000 in September and the unemployment rate was 4.2 percent. Health care continued to add jobs, while average hourly earnings rose 5 cents.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said both nonfarm payroll employment and the unemployment rate changed little in September 2026. Employers added 29,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate was 4.2 percent, with 7.1 million people unemployed.
The gain followed an average monthly increase of 45,000 over the prior 12 months. Health care added 17,000 jobs, slower than its 33,000 average over the previous year. Ambulatory health care services added 13,000 and hospitals 12,000, while nursing and residential care facilities lost 9,000.
Average hourly earnings for all private nonfarm employees edged up 5 cents, or 0.1 percent, to 37.81 dollars. Over the year, earnings rose 3.0 percent. Production and nonsupervisory employees saw a 7-cent rise, to 32.60 dollars.
A Joint Economic Committee summary of the same release said private payrolls rose by 46,000 and government payrolls fell by 17,000, and that the labour-force participation rate rose 0.2 point to 61.8 percent. Those secondary figures were not restated in the BLS summary paragraphs used above.
The report was published on 2 October. No revision schedule beyond the bureau’s normal process was announced in the summary.