US employers added 29,000 jobs in September, a significant drop from the gains seen in the previous month. This figure is less than half of the nearly 70,000 new jobs economists had anticipated. The unemployment rate also saw a slight increase, reaching 4.2%.
Most of the job gains were concentrated in the healthcare industry, which added 17,000 new jobs. Conversely, the information, financial, and professional industries experienced job losses, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Revisions to earlier jobs figures showed a combined drop of 60,000 jobs for July and August. Average hourly earnings growth also slowed to 3%, marking the lowest rate in over five years.
Despite the overall slowdown, unemployment among Black Americans increased by a full percentage point to 7%, which is double the rate for white Americans. Job openings and the number of hires remained largely unchanged in August.