US Employment Growth Well Below Forecasts

2026-10-02 12:31 By Joana Taborda 1 min. read

The US economy added 29K jobs in September 2026, following a downwardly revised 133K in August and well below forecasts of 90K.

Increases were seen in health care employment (17K), mostly ambulatory health care services (13K) and in hospitals (12K); construction (11K) and manufacturing (9K), mostly plastics and rubber products (5K) and machinery (5K).

In contrast, falls were recorded for financial activities (-7K).

Employment also showed little change in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation and warehousing; information; professional and business services; social assistance; leisure and hospitality; other services; and government.

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for July was revised down by 31K to -10K, and the change for August was revised down by 29K to +133K.

With these revisions, employment in July and August combined is 60K lower than previously reported.



News Stream
US Employment Growth Well Below Forecasts
The US economy added 29K jobs in September 2026, following a downwardly revised 133K in August and well below forecasts of 90K. Increases were seen in health care employment (17K), mostly ambulatory health care services (13K) and in hospitals (12K); construction (11K) and manufacturing (9K), mostly plastics and rubber products (5K) and machinery (5K). In contrast, falls were recorded for financial activities (-7K). Employment also showed little change in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation and warehousing; information; professional and business services; social assistance; leisure and hospitality; other services; and government. The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for July was revised down by 31K to -10K, and the change for August was revised down by 29K to +133K. With these revisions, employment in July and August combined is 60K lower than previously reported.
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US Job Growth Expected to Slow
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