According to the latest jobs report, the US economy added 263,000 jobs last month, short of the Dow Jones estimate of 275,000. Leisure and hospitality, health care and business and professional services were the leading sector gainers.
The unemployment rate was 3.5%, versus the forecast of 3.7%, as the labor force participation rate edged lower to 62.3%.
Average hourly earnings continued their upward trend, rising 5% from a year ago, slightly below the estimate.
September’s payroll figure marked a deceleration from the 315,000 gain in August and tied for the lowest monthly increase since April 2021.
Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, told CNBC, “Depending on your view of optimism vs. pessimism, on the economy, there’s a little bit of something for everyone in this report. Obviously, the market is not happy, but the market is not happy in general these days.”
While last week’s two-day stock market rally to start the fourth quarter was at least partly fueled by signs that the US labor market was starting to cool, the week ended on a down note.
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