Reflecting the impact of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the Labor Department released a report on Friday showing an unexpected decrease in employment in the U.S. in the month of September.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment fell by 33,000 jobs in September after climbing by an upwardly revised 169,000 jobs in August.
The modest decrease surprised economists, who had expected employment to rise by 90,000 jobs compared to the addition of 156,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Despite the unexpected drop in employment, the unemployment rate dipped to 4.2 percent in September from 4.4 percent in August. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to hold at 4.4 percent.
The report also showed a notable acceleration in the pace of wage growth, as average hourly employee earnings were up by 2.9 percent year-over-year in September compared to 2.5 percent in August.
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April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.