Jobs report: Economy adds 136,000 payrolls in September, unemployment rate falls to 3.5%

U.S. employers added fewer jobs than expected in September and wage gains slowed, adding to signs of decelerating growth in the domestic economy. However, the unemployment rate unexpectedly declined to a fresh five-decade low of 3.5%.

Here were the main numbers from the Department of Labor’s September jobs report, versus consensus expectations compiled by Bloomberg:

Nonfarm payrolls: 136,000 vs. +145,000 expected and +168,000 in August

Unemployment rate: 3.5% vs. 3.7% expected and 3.7% in August

Average hourly earnings MoM: +0.00% vs. +0.2% expected and +0.4% in August

Average hourly earnings YoY: +2.9% vs. +3.2% expected and +3.2% in August

Friday’s jobs report also saw August’s payroll additions upwardly revised to 168,000, from the 130,000 previously reported. This brought the new three-month average for payroll additions between July, August and September to 119,000, or the lowest since 2012.

Wage gains missed expectations on both a monthly and annual basis, remaining flat between August and September. Over last year, average hourly earnings rose just 2.9%, marking the slowest pace of increase since July 2018.