With employment in the U.S. showing continued growth in the month of September, the Labor Department released a report on Friday showing a notable drop by the unemployment rate for the month.
The report showed that employment increased by 114,000 jobs in September following an upwardly revised increase of 142,000 jobs in August. Economists had expected employment to increase by 113,000 jobs compared to the addition of 96,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The continued job growth pushed the unemployment rate down to 7.8 percent in September from 8.1 percent in August. The drop surprised economists, who had expected the unemployment rate to come in unchanged.
With the unexpected decrease, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since hitting a matching rate in January of 2009.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.