U.S. Job Growth Falls Well Short Of Expectations In September

Employment in the U.S. increased by much less than anticipated in the month of September, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The report said non-farm payroll employment rose by 142,000 jobs in September, well below economist estimates for an increase of about 203,000 jobs.

Job growth in July and August was also downwardly revised to 223,000 and 136,000, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 59,000 jobs.

The Labor Department said notable job growth in the health care and information sectors was partly offset by a decrease in mining employment.

Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate held at a seven-year low of 5.1 percent in September, matching economist estimates.

The unemployment rate remained low due to a substantial 350,000 person drop in the labor force compared to a 236,000 person decrease in the household employment survey.

The civilian labor force participation rate subsequently declined to 62.4 percent in September, hitting its lowest level since 1977.

Additionally, the Labor Department said average hourly employee earnings dipped by a penny to $25.09 in September. Hourly earnings were still up by 2.2 percent year-over-year.

Rob Carnell, chief international economist at ING, said, "For once, these labor market numbers gave an unambiguous result. The problem is that it was unambiguously negative."

"No rate hike this month then it seems," he added. "But it raises doubts too about the probability of a December hike, unless the Fed changes the basis upon which it decided policy rates."

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its next monetary policy decision following a two-day meeting ending on October 28th.