Hiring Accelerated With 336,000 Jobs Added Last Month

U.S. hiring surged last month, the latest sign of a resilient U.S. economy that has contributed to the recent bond-market rout.

Employers added 336,000 jobs in September, the strongest gain since January and up sharply from the prior month’s upwardly revised 227,000 gain, the Labor Department said Friday. Accelerating job growth has signaled an economic rebound in recent months, after the labor market slowed in the first half of the year.

The unemployment rate held steady at 3.8% last month. Employers raised pay at a solid pace as they competed for a limited pool of workers. Average hourly earnings rose 4.2% in September from a year earlier, down slightly from 4.3% in August. That was slower than last year but well above the prepandemic rate.