The Labor Department reported September nonfarm payrolls rose by 29,000, well below the 90,000 gain economists expected, while unemployment moved to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent.
US job growth slowed more than expected in September, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said, according to a Reuters report published October 2. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 29,000, compared with a Reuters poll forecast of 90,000.
The unemployment rate rose to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent as more people entered the labor force, Reuters reported. Average hourly earnings increased 3.0 percent from a year earlier, after a 3.1 percent gain in August.
Prior months were revised lower. August's gain was revised down to 133,000 from a previously reported 162,000, and July was revised to a loss of 10,000 jobs, the second negative payroll month this year, Reuters said.
Reuters quoted economists linking the miss to a late Labor Day in the survey week and said the combination of weak hiring, a slightly higher jobless rate, contained wages and downward revisions left little reason for the Federal Reserve to keep an October rate hike on the table.
The report is the latest official reading before the Fed's late-October meeting. Reuters did not publish a new policy decision; it reported only the labor data and the market interpretation that a hike had become less likely.