U.S. Gained 119,000 Jobs in September, According to Delayed Employment Report

September Jobs Report Shows Modest Growth Amid Economic Jitters

The Labor Department has released its long-awaited September employment report, offering a clearer picture of a cooling U.S. labor market after weeks of delay. While the economy continued to add jobs, the pace of hiring remained soft and reinforced concerns that the labor market is gradually losing momentum.

119,000 Jobs Added, Topping Expectations

According to Thursday’s report, employers added 119,000 jobs in September, slightly stronger than forecasts from economists surveyed by LSEG. The gain suggests the economy is still generating new positions despite uncertainty around growth, inflation and interest rates.

Even so, the figure is relatively subdued compared with the stronger monthly gains seen earlier in the recovery, signaling that hiring has slowed as businesses grow more cautious.

Unemployment Rate Rises to 4.4%

The unemployment rate climbed to 4.4% in September, coming in higher than economists had anticipated. The increase is another sign that the labor market is loosening, with more workers either losing jobs or searching longer for new ones.

The uptick in joblessness, paired with modest job creation, adds to evidence that the red-hot labor market of the last couple of years is cooling.

Report Delayed by Government Shutdown

The September data was originally slated for release on Oct. 3 but was pushed back about six weeks because of a 43-day government shutdown. During that period, many employees at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the agency that compiles the report, were furloughed, halting work on key economic statistics.

Earlier Months Revised Lower

The report also included revisions to prior months that painted a weaker picture of job growth than previously believed.

• July employment gains were revised down by 7,000, from 79,000 to 72,000.

• August was revised down by 26,000, shifting from an initially reported gain of 22,000 jobs to a loss of 4,000.

Together, those changes mean employment in July and August was 33,000 jobs lower than earlier estimates suggested.

Private vs. Government Hiring

Private-sector employers added 97,000 jobs in September, beating LSEG’s projection of 62,000. That increase came alongside a rebound in government employment after a dip the previous month.

• Government payrolls rose by 22,000 jobs in September, following a decline of 22,000 in August.

• State governments added about 16,000 positions.

• Local governments increased employment by roughly 9,000 jobs.

• The federal government cut 3,000 jobs in September.

The BLS noted that federal employment is down by 97,000 jobs since peaking in January. Federal workers who are on paid leave or continue to receive severance pay are still counted as employed in the agency’s establishment survey.

Manufacturing Continues to Shrink

The manufacturing sector lost 6,000 jobs in September, a slightly smaller decline than the 8,000-job drop economists had expected. But the broader trend remains negative: manufacturing employment is down 94,000 jobs over the past year on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Taken as a whole, the September report shows an economy still adding jobs but at a slower, more fragile pace—reinforcing the narrative of a labor market that is gradually cooling after years of strong growth.