U.S. added 119K jobs in September, beating expectations

The U.S. added far more jobs in September than forecast, the government said Thursday in a long-delayed jobs report.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said nonfarm payrolls increased by 119,000 for the month, beating Wall Street estimates of 50,000.

“Employment continued to trend up in health care, food services and drinking places, and social assistance,” the bureau said. “Job losses occurred in transportation and warehousing and in federal government.”

The White House said the upbeat report indicated that President Trump’s agenda is “already making great progress.”

“The September jobs report more than doubled market expectations — adding 119,000 new jobs to the American economy. In stark contrast to the disastrous Biden economy, almost all of these new jobs were in the private sector and went to American-born workers instead of illegal aliens,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. 

Ms. Leavitt also pointed to a section of the report that showed overall wages continued to rise.

However, the bureau said the unemployment rate edged a bit higher, to 4.4% — the highest reading since October 2021. The number of unemployed people, at 7.6 million, “changed little in September.”

Those metrics are higher than at this point last year, when the unemployment rate was 4.1%, and the number of unemployed persons totaled 6.9 million.

The statistics bureau is starting to catch up with data releases that were put on hold or upended completely during the record-setting 43-day shutdown.

While the September report is out of date, it does provide a glimpse into economic conditions that can guide investors and the Federal Reserve, which must consider in December whether to cut interest rates for a third consecutive session.

Central bankers, despite fears of persistent inflation, opted for rate cuts at recent meetings because of this year’s hiring slowdown.

The jobs market had weakened in August. The report showed a loss of 4,000 positions after downward revisions. 

Economists say a confluence of factors might be to blame for the hiring morass.

The Trump administration cut many federal government positions and launched an immigrant crackdown, which could bring down the job numbers. Some companies may be easing off on hiring after a rush to bring in workers in previous years.

The hiring uptick in September, however, could complicate the Fed’s calculations and make a rate cut less likely.

CME Fedwatch, a real-time monitor, on Thursday put the probability of another rate cut in December at only 39.5%.

The BLS said health care continued its robust stretch, adding 43,000 positions, while transportation and warehousing saw a decline of 25,000 jobs.

Employment in the federal government decreased by 3,000 jobs in September and is down by 97,000 positions since January.

The manufacturing sector shed 6,000 jobs in September.

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, speaking on Fox Business, said it was a solid report overall, but the manufacturing numbers have “not been exactly where we want them to be.”

She said the manufacturing numbers would turn around as Mr. Trump’s trade deals and associated investments in U.S. production take root.

The Labor Department announced this week it would not release a complete monthly jobs report for October, citing the recent government shutdown that prevented it from collecting necessary data.

It would be the first time the department did not publish an unemployment rate. A government shutdown never lasted long enough to compromise the monthly jobs report.

Federal employees who conduct a critical component of the jobs report, the household survey, were furloughed during the shutdown.

“The household survey data is not able to be retroactively collected,” the BLS said on its website.

• Mary McCue Bell contributed to this report.