Employers added 254,000 jobs in September, blowing away forecasts and reversing a slowdown in hiring that had prompted the Federal Reserve to make a jumbo rate cut at its meeting last month.
Economists had forecast 140,000 new jobs, according to financial data provider FactSet.
The unemployment rate inched down to 4.1%, versus 4.2% in the prior month.
The employment report marks the second-to-last reading on the labor market before the Federal Reserve’s November 7 rate decision meeting, when the central bank is expected to once again cut its benchmark rate. The Fed last month made a jumbo cut, its first rate reduction in four years, in the face of weakness in hiring and a cooling economy.
But September’s surprisingly strong hiring suggests that the U.S. could be headed for a so-called “soft landing,” with the Fed’s prior rate hikes having helped to cool the economy while skirting a recession, experts said.
“Today’s data hit a grand slam with payrolls coming in strong, positive revisions and unemployment falling,” noted Lindsay Rosner, head of multisector investing within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, in an email. “The economy is heading into the post-season solidly.”
Stocks gained on the blow-out employment data, with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 rising 0.4% in early Friday trading. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 0.5%.
What does the jobs report mean for a Fed rate cut?
The strong data…
