US Labor Market Adds 119K Jobs After Shutdown Leaves Fed With Stale Labor Data

Benzinga

The U.S. added 119,000 jobs in September, beating forecasts, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.4% as nearly 500,000 people entered the labor force. The shutdown-delayed report gives the Fed outdated data ahead of its December meeting, with revisions to prior months showing a softer underlying trend. Stocks reversed earlier gains as investors weighed the mixed signals.

Transcript

00:00It's Benzinga, bringing Wall Street to Main Street.

00:02The U.S. labor market added 119,000 jobs in September, beating expectations of 50,000,

00:07while the unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent, and nearly half a million people joined the labor

00:12force, according to The Wall Street Journal. The garbage shutdown delayed the report almost

00:15seven weeks, and left the Federal Reserve heading into its December meeting with outdated data.

00:21Job gains came mainly from health care, education, and leisure and hospitality,

00:25which have all added jobs steadily in recent months.

00:28July and August payrolls were revised down by a combined 33,000, showing a softer trend

00:32between September's gain. Weekly jobless claims held steady during the shutdown,

00:36but continuing claims rose to the highest level since 2021, underscoring hiring challenges for

00:41laid-off workers. Stocks reversed gains as investors waved the mixed labor signals

00:45against uncertainty over the Fed's upcoming rate decision.

00:48For all things money, visit Benzinga.com.

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