US Economy Adds 119,000 Jobs in September

After a delay due to the government shutdown, the Department of Labor reported Thursday that the US economy added 119,000 jobs in September, defying predictions of a slower hiring rate amid economic uncertainty.

The Details: The jobs report, initially scheduled for release in early October, indicated a significant increase in hiring, with the US adding 119,000 jobs in September. This figure marked an acceleration from the previous month, exceeding an average of nearly 100,000 jobs added per month over the first half of 2025. However, there was a downward revision for August, which slashed the performance from 22,000 jobs gained to 4,000 jobs lost as top companies announced layoffs. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4%, the highest level since October 2021 and 0.3% higher than the same month in 2024, but still low by historical standards.

For Context: This comes amid an economic landscape marked by a stock market selloff, inflation, and fears of an AI bubble. These conditions have placed the Federal Reserve in a challenging position of balancing a mandate to control inflation and maximize employment.

How the Media Covered It: ABC News (Lean Left bias) focused on the context of a wobbly economy and the implications of economic conditions on the Federal Reserve's decision-making. Breitbart (Right) highlighted the rise in customer-facing hiring and the drop in federal employment, crediting the latter to President Donald Trump's efforts to shrink the federal government, which it said, "continue[s] to bear fruit." Newsweek (Center) underscored the boost this report provided to the Trump administration, given the otherwise gloomy economic picture.

Revised by the AllSides staff (of humans) after a first draft from our custom AI. Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.