U.S. adds 29,000 jobs in September as earlier hiring is revised lower

U.S. employers added 29,000 jobs in September, while unemployment stood at 4.2%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on October 2. The modest payroll gain and downward revisions to the previous two months give a softer picture of hiring than the August headline available before this release.

Economists surveyed by FactSet had expected 90,000 additional jobs and 4.1% unemployment, according to the Associated Press on October 1. The September gain fell 61,000 short of that dated payroll forecast, a calculated comparison rather than a separate BLS statistic. BLS described both payroll employment and the unemployment rate as little changed.

Revisions change the starting point

August's gain was lowered to 133,000 from 162,000, and July's estimate moved to a loss of 10,000 from a gain of 21,000. Together, the two revisions removed 60,000 jobs from the previously reported total. That matters because September's result is arriving alongside a weaker recent hiring history, rather than following the August figure readers saw a month ago.

The three months from July through September now average roughly 50,700 additional jobs a month, calculated from the revised figures: (-10,000 + 133,000 + 29,000) / 3. BLS put average monthly growth over the 12 months preceding September at 45,000. These are different comparison windows, not competing estimates of the same period.

Pay growth eases; industry changes remain modest

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose 5 cents, or 0.1%, to $37.81 in September and were 3.0% above a year earlier. The average workweek held at 34.4 hours. The wage figures measure nominal average earnings, not inflation-adjusted purchasing power or a guaranteed raise for an individual worker.

BLS reported little change in employment across all major industries. Health care continued to trend upward, adding 17,000 jobs, below its preceding 12-month average of 33,000. Financial activities lost 7,000 jobs over the month, which BLS also described as little changed; employment in that sector was down 129,000 from its May 2025 peak.

The labor-force participation rate was 61.8%, and the employment-population ratio was 59.2%. BLS characterized both as little changed. Payrolls and unemployment come from different surveys: employers supply the establishment data, while the household survey measures people's labor-force status. Their monthly changes should not be treated as interchangeable counts.

A softer labor reading, not a policy decision

The Federal Reserve raised its target rate range by a quarter percentage point to 3.75%–4% on September 16, citing elevated inflation. Its next scheduled policy meeting is October 27–28. Slower hiring and modest wage growth give policymakers fresh labor-market evidence to weigh against inflation; this report alone does not establish their next decision.

This results report follows TickerGrove's pre-release September jobs preview, which retains its dated expectations and August data vintage. The next checks are subsequent revisions and whether weakness persists across hiring and earnings. BLS schedules the October Employment Situation for November 6 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.