Unemployment Ticks Up, U.S. Add Disappointing Number Of Jobs In September

U.S. employers added only 29,000 jobs in September, well below the 90,000 economists expected, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1%, the Labor Department reported. Revisions also cut a combined 60,000 jobs from July and August payrolls, and average hourly wages rose just 3% over the year, the smallest gain since May 2021.

The report lands a month before midterm elections, with an AP-NORC poll finding only 17% of adults approve of President Trump's handling of the cost of living and 26% approve of his economic management overall, both new lows. Consumer confidence has dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade per the Conference Board, and Glassdoor's employee confidence index hit a record low, its third this year.

Economists describe a 'low-hire, low-fire' market: layoffs remain rare but so does hiring, leaving the average unemployed person out of work for more than six months, the longest stretch since February 2022. Markets shrugged off the weak numbers, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures rising and Treasury yields falling after the report's release.

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