(Oct 8) The U.S. economy created jobs at a much slower pace than expected pace in September, a pessimistic sign at a time of concerns over the path of the pandemic, stubbornly high inflation and dysfunction in Washington.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by just 194,000 in the month, compared to the Dow Jones estimate of 500,000, the Labor Department reported Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 4.8%, against the expectation for 5.1%.
The headline number was hurt by a 123,000 decline in government payrolls, while private payrolls increased by 317,000.
Dow trades virtually unchanged at 34,645,Nasdaq-100 futures up 0.2%
Gold prices pop after September jobs report, December gold up 0.4% at $1,769.20/oz.
August job gains raised to 366,000 from 235,000; July job gains revised up to 1.09 from 1.05 million
J.P. Morgan Chase stock down 0.1% premarket after jobs data.