Employment growth in the United States slowed sharply in September, with hurricane Florence likely to hurt restaurant and retail sales, but unemployment fell to its lowest level in 49 years at 3.7% in a sign of more strength in the labor market.
The Labor Department report showed a steady rise in wages, signaling moderate inflationary pressures, which could ease concerns about the overheating economy and keep the Fed on a gradual rate hike.
Non-farm payrolls rose by 134,000 jobs in September, the lowest in a year, the economy needs to create about 120,000 jobs per month to keep up with the growth in the working-age population. The unemployment rate fell to 3.7%.
Average hourly wages rose by 8 cents or 0.3 percent, the same increase as in August, while wages on an annual basis slowed to 2.8 percent in September from 2.9 percent.
