The long-delayed September jobs report showed the US added way more jobs than expected

• The US added 119,000 jobs in September, exceeding the expected 53,000.
• Unemployment unexpectedly ticked up.
• The data release was delayed due to the government shutdown.

The US added 119,000 jobs in September, far more than the 53,000 economists expected, and unemployment unexpectedly increased to 4.4% from 4.3%.

August's job growth was revised from a gain of 22,000 to a loss of 4,000, and July's growth was revised from a gain of 79,000 to 72,000. "With these revisions, employment in July and August combined is 33,000 lower than previously reported," BLS said.

Economists expected the unemployment rate to remain steady after two consecutive months of 0.1 percentage point increases. Unemployment has been at least 4% since May 2024.

The longest government shutdown in US history delayed the release of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' jobs report, originally scheduled for October 3.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Wednesday there won't be an October jobs report, which would have been released at the start of November barring the shutdown. Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said recently that payroll estimates for last month can still be calculated, but "we will never know what the unemployment rate was in October."

While payrolls are based on a survey of businesses and government agencies that likely still have their October employment records and can report those to the BLS, unemployment is based on a survey of households, which wasn't collected during the shutdown. The agency said it will extend the data collection period for November and will publish that report on a delay, but still in December.

Private data providers like ADP, Revelio Labs, and others were able to partially fill the gap for September and October hiring changes, but economists and market watchers have been eagerly awaiting the delayed official figures.

The Federal Open Market Committee's December meeting is scheduled to be the last one of the year. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points in September and October. CME FedWatch, which showed the chances of the Fed changing rates, indicated before the jobs report a roughly 70% chance that rates would be held steady. That was up from a virtual coin toss before the BLS announcement that the November jobs report would be delayed until after the meeting.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.