Economy / Markets
US hiring almost stalls as September payrolls rise just 29,000
US employers added 29,000 jobs in September, far below the roughly 84,000 economists expected, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. July and August were revised down by a combined 60,000. Average hourly earnings rose 0.1% on the month and 3.0% over the year, the slowest annual pace in years. Health care, construction and manufacturing added jobs while government and financial activities shed them. The soft report reduced the odds of a Fed rate rise this month.