Payrolls rose 29,000 in September. Unemployment was 4.2 percent.

The Employment Situation for September 2026 came out Friday, Oct. 2, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. The release number is USDL-26-1549.

The bureau’s headline sentence: “Both nonfarm payroll employment (+29,000) and the unemployment rate (4.2 percent) changed little in September.” It said employment in every major industry changed little over the month.

The unemployment rate was 4.2 percent. The number of unemployed people was 7.1 million, also little changed. The rate has stayed between 4.1 and 4.3 percent since March.

The labor force participation rate was 61.8 percent. The share of the population that is employed was 59.2 percent. Both changed little. Among large groups, the unemployment rate for Black workers rose to 7.0 percent. Rates for adult men (3.9 percent), adult women (3.6 percent), teenagers (14.5 percent), and White (3.6 percent), Asian (2.9 percent), and Hispanic (4.7 percent) workers showed little change.

July’s payroll change was revised down by 31,000, from +21,000 to −10,000. August’s was revised down by 29,000, from +162,000 to +133,000. With those revisions, employment in July and August combined is 60,000 lower than previously reported.

Average hourly earnings for private workers rose 5 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $37.81. Over the past 12 months those earnings rose 3.0 percent. The average workweek stayed at 34.4 hours.

Health care kept adding jobs, but more slowly: +17,000 in September, against an average of +33,000 a month over the prior year. Construction was little changed at +11,000. Manufacturing was little changed at +9,000 and is up 72,000 since a recent low in December 2025. Financial activities were little changed at −7,000 and are down 129,000 since a peak in May 2025.

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis republishes the same two headline series. On the payroll series, September is 159,044 thousand jobs and August is 159,015 thousand, a gain of 29,000. The unemployment series is 4.2 percent for September and 4.1 percent for August. Both series were updated Oct. 2, 2026, at 8:24 a.m. Central. This desk read those pages on Oct. 4.

The next Employment Situation, for October, is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. This release is not a price index. September consumer prices are still set for Oct. 14.