Weak September jobs report shows hiring and wage growth slow
Below, EPI senior economist Elise Gould offers her insights on the jobs report released this morning. Read the full thread here.
Notable weakness in today’s #jobs report for this morning. Payroll employment grew by 29,000 while downward revisions to both July and August totaled 60,000. July is now recording losses. The job growth in September (29,000) is slower than the prior 12 months (45,000).
#EconSky— Elise Gould (@elisegould.bsky.social) 8:39 AM · Oct 2, 2026
Payroll employment growth has averaged 50,000 over the last three months, but it continues to be relatively volatile. Four months of jobs losses over the last year, while some notable gains recorded as well. Economic uncertainty may be at play in the latest spell of weakness and downward revisions.
— Elise Gould (@elisegould.bsky.social) 8:51 AM · Oct 2, 2026
Health care employment continues to chug along, adding 17,000 in September. Modest job growth in construction, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing. After a bounce back in August, state and local government recorded losses for September.
— Elise Gould (@elisegould.bsky.social) 9:00 AM · Oct 2, 2026
Manufacturing employment grew modestly in September, a gain of 9,000 jobs. But the fact remains that manufacturing employment is still down 21,000 jobs since January 2025. It’s hardly a manufacturing boon.
— Elise Gould (@elisegould.bsky.social) 9:00 AM · Oct 2, 2026
Federal employment lost 1,000 jobs in September, but the deficit in the federal workforce remains stark: there are 328,000 fewer federal jobs since January 2025. The vital services federal employees provide cannot be done without these essential workers.
#EconSky— Elise Gould (@elisegould.bsky.social) 9:02 AM · Oct 2, 2026
Nominal wage growth continued to decelerate in Sept, rising just 3.0% over the year. Slowing nominal wage growth suggests workers don’t have the leverage to bid up their wages. Even with low unemployment, the depressed hires rate means workers aren’t finding new jobs to raise their wages.
#EconSky— Elise Gould (@elisegould.bsky.social) 9:05 AM · Oct 2, 2026
Slower wage growth means that with higher prices, workers and their families continue to find it difficult to make ends meet. Year-over-year real wages fell for five months in a row. When the latest price data is out on October 14, we’ll learn if real wages have fallen for six months straight.
— Elise Gould (@elisegould.bsky.social) 9:10 AM · Oct 2, 2026
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