Employers hired far more workers than expected in September, defying a sharp slowdown over the summer that appeared to cool off the labor market.
The U.S. added 119,000 jobs in September, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That figure marked an acceleration from the previous month, and it exceeded an average of nearly 100,000 jobs added per month over the first half of 2025.
The report included a downward revision for the month of August, however, slashing performance from 22,000 jobs gained that month to 4,000 jobs lost.
The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4%, which marks the highest level since October 2021. Still, the unemployment rate remains low by historical standards.
A stock market selloff over recent days underscored the uncertainty looming over the economy as some investors warned of an AI bubble. Blockbuster earnings unveiled by chip giant Nvidia late Wednesday, however, appeared to rebuke such concerns.
Mass layoffs at corporate giants like Amazon, UPS and Verizon in recent weeks have drawn attention to a sluggish labor market — and stoked fears that job losses may spread.
It is likely too early to panic, however, some economists previously told ABC News. While the layoffs reflect a weakened labor market and AI adoption in some corners of the tech industry, they added, the prospect of wider job losses remains highly uncertain.
Inflation has picked up in recent months while hiring has slowed, posing a risk of an economic double-whammy known as “stagflation.”
Those economic conditions have put the Federal Reserve in a bind, since the central bank must balance a dual mandate to keep inflation under control and maximize employment.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference following a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee at the Federal Reserve, Oct. 29, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
“We have the situation where the risks are to the upside for inflation and to the downside for employment. We have one tool,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a press conference in Washington, D.C., last month. “You can’t address both of those at once.”
Still, Powell said, concern has tilted toward strain in the labor market, prompting the central bank to reduce interest rates a quarter of a percentage point at each of its last two meetings.
“A further reduction of the policy rate in December is not a foregone conclusion — in fact, far from it,” Powell told reporters.
Traders peg the chances interest rates will be left unchanged next month at about 66%, while the odds of a quarter-point rate cut stand at 33%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.
On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said it would not release a full jobs report for the month of October due to lost capacity during the shutdown. Rather, partial jobs data for October will be released as part of the November report, the BLS said.
