WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added just 29,000 jobs in September, substantially below economists’ expectations, while the unemployment rate edged up to 4.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The payroll increase fell below the roughly 90,000 jobs economists surveyed by Reuters had expected and below the 45,000 average monthly gain recorded during the previous 12 months. BLS also revised the previous two months lower, changing July from a reported gain of 21,000 jobs to a loss of 10,000 and reducing August’s increase from 162,000 to 133,000. Combined, the revisions removed 60,000 jobs from earlier estimates. BLS data

Those numbers provide clear evidence that hiring slowed more than previously believed. They do not, however, show a broad wave of layoffs or an economy suddenly shedding workers.

The separate household survey used to calculate unemployment estimated that the number of employed Americans increased by 406,000 in September. The civilian labor force grew by an even larger 485,000 as more people entered or returned to the job market, helping push the unemployment rate from 4.1% to 4.2%. Labor-force participation rose from 61.6% to 61.8%, while the employment-to-population ratio increased from 59.1% to 59.2%. BLS data

The broader U-6 unemployment measure, which includes people working part time because they cannot find full-time work and some people who want jobs but have stopped actively looking, actually declined from 7.7% to 7.6%. The number of marginally attached workers fell by 236,000 to 1.5 million. Long-term unemployment remained elevated, however, with 1.9 million people out of work for 27 weeks or longer. BLS data

The payroll and household numbers are not directly contradictory. BLS derives them from separate surveys measuring different things. The payroll survey counts jobs reported by employers, while the household survey counts employed individuals and includes categories such as the self-employed. Month-to-month movements in the smaller household survey can also be volatile.

Other labor indicators likewise suggest a slow-hiring environment rather than widespread job destruction. Initial unemployment claims have been hovering near multi-decade lows, and Reuters reported that economists continue to characterize the labor market as “low-hire, low-fire,” with companies reluctant to add workers but also reluctant to let existing employees go. Reuters

Private-sector employment increased by 46,000 in September while government payrolls declined by 17,000, according to data compiled by the Republican staff of Congress’ Joint Economic Committee from BLS figures. Over the 12 months ending in September, total payroll employment increased by 496,000, consisting of a 712,000 increase in private-sector jobs offset partly by a 216,000 decline in government employment. Joint Economic Committee data

That longer-term picture is more favorable than September’s headline number alone, although it also shows a labor market growing much more slowly than during the immediate post-pandemic years. Overall labor-force participation stood at 61.8% in September, down from 62.5% a year earlier. Prime-age participation among workers ages 25 to 54, however, was unchanged from a year earlier at 83.7%. Joint Economic Committee data

Manufacturing gains continue despite weak overall hiring

Health care remained one of the strongest sectors, adding 17,000 jobs in September. Construction added 11,000.

Manufacturing added about 9,000 jobs and has gained 72,000 positions since reaching a recent low in December 2025. Plastics and rubber products and machinery manufacturing each added about 5,000 jobs during September. President Donald Trump highlighted the 72,000-job manufacturing increase in a National Manufacturing Day proclamation Friday as evidence that his trade and industrial policies are encouraging domestic production. The underlying 72,000 figure is supported by BLS data, although a monthly jobs report by itself cannot establish which policies caused the increase. BLS data

Weakness was visible elsewhere. Information-sector employment declined by about 10,000, professional and business services lost roughly 9,000 and financial activities declined by 7,000. Financial-sector employment is now down approximately 129,000 from its May 2025 peak, according to BLS. Reuters

One reason today’s payroll numbers cannot be compared mechanically with job-growth levels from several years ago is that the available workforce is growing more slowly.

Economists cited by Reuters estimate that the economy now needs roughly 50,000 additional jobs per month to keep pace with growth in the working-age population. Retirements and reduced immigration have slowed labor-supply growth. The Trump administration’s tighter immigration enforcement and reductions in some forms of temporary legal work authorization have contributed to that shift. Reuters

Payroll growth has averaged about 51,000 per month over the past three months, Reuters calculated, roughly near that estimated break-even level and above the 23,000 monthly pace during the same three-month period a year earlier. September’s 29,000 gain was below that threshold, but one month alone does not establish a sustained employment contraction. Reuters

Wage growth remains a concern

Average hourly earnings rose only 0.1% in September and were 3.0% higher than a year earlier, the slowest pace of wage growth in several years. BLS data

Inflation remains an important qualification. The most recent Personal Consumption Expenditures price index available before the September jobs report showed consumer prices rising 3.4% over the 12 months ending in August. That means recent nominal wage growth has not clearly been outrunning inflation, although September’s official real-earnings figures cannot yet be calculated from the jobs report alone. September CPI and real-earnings data are scheduled for release Oct. 14. Bureau of Economic Analysis

That distinction matters politically. A low unemployment rate does not necessarily mean households feel economically secure if purchasing power is stagnating or borrowing costs remain high.

Democrats seized on the September report as evidence that administration policies are weakening the economy. House Budget Committee ranking Democrat Brendan Boyle blamed tariffs and elevated living costs, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., argued that the administration’s economic agenda has produced inadequate job growth and slower wage gains. House Budget Committee Democrats

Republicans emphasized different portions of the same data. House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., pointed to private investment and Republican tax policy, while the Republican Joint Economic Committee highlighted the increase in private-sector employment and decrease in government payrolls during the fiscal year. House Ways and Means Committee

Neither party’s broader economic claims can be proved by a single monthly employment report. The September numbers support a narrower conclusion: hiring weakened significantly, earlier payroll estimates were too optimistic and wage growth slowed, but unemployment remains historically low, more people entered the workforce, private employment continued to increase and there is little evidence so far of widespread layoffs.

The labor market therefore looks less like either a jobs boom or an employment collapse and more like a slower and less dynamic economy in which employers are cautious about hiring but are still holding onto most existing workers.

September’s 29,000 payroll estimate is also preliminary and will be revised in the next two employment reports, just as the July and August estimates were. That makes the underlying multi-month trend more informative than any single headline number. BLS revision information