U.S. Adds Just 29,000 Jobs in September, Misses 84,000 Forecast

The U.S. economy added 29,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, well below the 84,000 jobs economists had forecast and trailing the prior 12-month average of 45,000.

The unemployment rate climbed to 4.2%, leaving 7.1 million Americans counted as jobless. The combination — a payroll miss of roughly 65% versus consensus and an upward tick in unemployment — marks the weakest hiring signal of 2026 to date.

What the revisions reveal

The September print came with two notable downgrades. BLS revised July payrolls from a gain of 21,000 to a loss of 10,000, a net change of 31,000. August fell from 162,000 to 133,000, a 29,000 downward revision. Together, the two adjustments removed 60,000 jobs from the previously reported count.

For job seekers benchmarking the late-summer market, that matters. The labor market heading into fall was thinner than the initial readings suggested. August, originally the strongest monthly gain since March, now sits roughly 18% below its first published figure.

Where the jobs were — and weren't

Health care led September's gain with 17,000 positions, but that total fell short of the sector's 12-month average monthly gain of 33,000. Construction added 11,000 jobs, tracking its recent pace. Manufacturing contributed 9,000.

Financial activities was the headline loser, shedding 7,000 positions. The sector has now lost 129,000 jobs since peaking in May 2025, a sustained contraction that has now run for more than a year.

What it means for individual workers

Three signals stand out for anyone reassessing their market position:

• Wage growth is decelerating but still positive. Average hourly earnings for private nonfarm workers rose 0.1% in September to $37.81, a 3.0% year-over-year gain.
• Hours held steady. The average workweek remained at 34.4 hours, suggesting employers are not yet cutting shifts to absorb weaker demand.
• Sector exposure matters more than it did a year ago. Health care, construction and manufacturing continue to hire, even if at a slower clip. Financial services remains in a sustained downturn.

How markets and policy makers responded

Stock futures climbed after the report and Treasury yields retreated, as investors read the soft print as a signal that the Federal Reserve would hold rates steady at its October meeting. The Fed raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time in three years at its September meeting, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The ADP private payrolls report released Wednesday had pointed in the opposite direction, with private employers adding 90,000 jobs against a Dow Jones consensus of 68,000. The widening gap between the two surveys leaves the true state of late-summer hiring unusually uncertain.

The October jobs report, due in early November, will serve as the next major test of whether September's weakness was a one-month dip or the start of a more durable cooling in U.S. labor demand.