The U.S. economy added 29,000 jobs in September, well below the 85,000 economists had forecast, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent.
The modest gain comes alongside downward revisions to prior months. July, once reported as a gain of 21,000 jobs, is now recorded as a loss of 10,000. August’s gain was revised down from 162,000 to 133,000.
Despite the weak headline number, the private sector outperformed the overall figure, adding 46,000 jobs. Goods-producing industries added 18,000 jobs, including 8,000 in durable goods manufacturing and 11,000 in construction. Services added 28,000 jobs. Government payrolls shrank by 17,000.
The unemployment rate’s rise did not come from layoffs. Instead, it reflects a larger pool of people entering the labor force — 485,000 joined in September, pushing the labor force participation rate up by 0.2 percent.
Why the numbers may look better than they seem
Economists say a slowdown in immigration has changed how job growth should be read. With fewer new immigrant workers entering the labor pool, the economy no longer needs as many new jobs each month just to keep unemployment steady.
From 2021 through 2024, when immigration levels were higher, the economy needed to add more than 100,000 jobs a month simply to keep pace with labor-force growth. Today, some economists estimate that this
