Topline
U.S. employers added just 29,000 jobs in September as unemployment inched up to 4.2%, while revisions cut August’s gain and turned July’s 21,000 gain into a 10,000-job loss, revealing a weaker overall summer labor market.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 20: A hiring sign is displayed in the window of a business in Manhattan on November 27, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Employers added just 29,000 jobs in September, well below the 45,000 average monthly gain over the prior year.
The unemployment rate rose to 4.2%, or 7.1 million people, after holding at 4.1% for July and August, an uptick economists surveyed by Bloomberg weren’t expecting.
BLS revised August payroll growth down to 133,000 from 162,000, and July from a 21,000 gain to a 10,000 decline.
Health care added just 17,000 jobs in September, around half of its 33,000 monthly average over the prior year, while nursing and residential care facilities lost 9,000 jobs.
Financial activities lost 7,000 jobs in September, now down 129,000 since a peak in May 2025, and insurance carriers and related businesses lost 90,000 jobs.
KEY BACKGROUND
Before Friday’s revisions, August had looked like a sharp rebound for the labor market, adding 162,000 jobs, the strongest monthly gain since March. The August rebound was particularly important for the Federal Reserve, significantly raising the chances of an interest rate hike that came in September. But August has now been revised to 133,000 jobs, and July has been revised to a 10,000-job loss, meaning the summer rebound is weaker than it appeared initially.
BIG NUMBER
60,000. This is the combined downward revision for July and August.
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