U.S. employers added 29,000 jobs in September, well below forecasts, the Labor Department reported Friday. The unemployment rate edged up as hiring slowed.
Revised figures reduced the combined July and August job gains by 60,000, leaving July with a net loss. September brought no widespread layoffs: most industries continued to hire, but slowly. Financial services and government lost workers, while healthcare added 17,000 jobs.
Average wages were 3% higher than a year earlier, a smaller annual gain than in August. That increase may not have kept pace with inflation after several months in which prices rose faster than pay.
Two weeks before the report, the Federal Reserve increased its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to fight inflation. Wells Fargo senior economist Sarah House said limited turnover makes it harder for people entering or returning to the workforce, or those who lose a job, to find work.
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