The September jobs report put a small number on the table. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 29,000 last month, while the unemployment rate held at 4.2 percent. Average hourly earnings on private payrolls edged up five cents to $37.81, a gain of 0.1 percent for the month. The release came out at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, October 2, 2026, and it also took a chunk out of the two months before it.
The BLS Employment Situation for September: 29,000 jobs and a 4.2 percent unemployment rate
The agency’s own summary language is restrained. In the Employment Situation release, BLS wrote that “both nonfarm payroll employment (+29,000) and the unemployment rate (4.2 percent) changed little in September.” The 29,000 figure is a seasonally adjusted first estimate of the monthly change in total nonfarm payrolls, which covers government as well as private employers, and the release itself shows how much first estimates can move: the two prior months were revised in the same report.
That revision habit matters more than usual this time. A first print is the least settled number in the series, and the September figure arrives alongside a downgrade of the months that came before it.
July and August were both revised lower
BLS lowered its July estimate by 31,000, from a gain of 21,000 to a loss of 10,000 jobs. August was cut by 29,000, from a gain of 162,000 to a gain of 133,000. Together the two revisions remove 60,000 jobs from the earlier counts, which is roughly double the entire September gain.
The effect is that July now reads as a month of net job losses rather than a small gain, and August, which looked solid on first release, has been trimmed to a more modest figure. September’s 29,000 therefore sits on top of a revised base that is weaker than the one BLS published a month earlier. Read in sequence, the revised series runs from a loss of 10,000 in July to a gain of 133,000 in August and then 29,000 in September, a pattern that does not describe steady hiring in either direction.
Where the 29,000 jobs came from
The release names the sectors that moved. Health care added 17,000 jobs, construction added 11,000 and manufacturing added 9,000. Financial activities was the sector singled out on the downside, losing 7,000 jobs.
Health care alone accounted for more than half of the net gain. Those three gaining sectors add up to 37,000, which is more than the headline total, so employment elsewhere in the economy fell on net to leave the overall change at 29,000. BLS itself characterizes the overall change in September as little changed, and that wording is the agency’s own rather than a reading imposed from outside.
Average hourly earnings of $37.81 for all private-sector employees
The wage figure in the headline has a specific scope. BLS reports that average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls “edged up by 5 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $37.81.” That is a level and a one-month change, not an annual rate. Over the 12 months ending in September, BLS says, average hourly earnings rose 3.0 percent.
The measure covers private-sector employees only, so it leaves out government workers, and it is an average across all hours and all industries, which means a shift in the mix of jobs can move it independently of any pay raise. A five-cent monthly change on a base of more than $37 works out to the 0.1 percent BLS reports, and the 3.0 percent twelve-month gain is the figure that matters when pay is compared with prices over a year. The unemployment rate of 4.2 percent is a separate measure that BLS also described as little changed in September.
Wage growth against the August inflation reading
The annual wage gain of 3.0 percent can be set against the most recent price data. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported in its August personal income and outlays release, published September 30, that the PCE price index was up 3.4 percent from a year earlier, and that the personal saving rate was 4.1 percent. The two statistics come from different agencies and measure different things, since one tracks the pay of employees on payrolls and the other tracks prices paid by consumers, and PCE is not the same as the consumer price index. Placed side by side, the 3.4 percent price figure is above the 3.0 percent pay figure.
The next Employment Situation report is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, November 6, 2026. It will carry the first estimate for October and the next revisions to the September number and to August.
For the record on September itself, the primary source is plain. BLS recorded 29,000 net new nonfarm jobs, an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent, and a private-sector hourly wage of $37.81, with July and August both lowered in the same release.
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This article was drafted with AI assistance from the cited official sources and checked against them before publication.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
