The US jobs market saw a sharp slowdown in September, with employers adding just 29,000 jobs in the final update before the midterm elections.
Headcounts were little changed in major sectors from tech to retail as hiring fell significantly from August, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose slightly from 4.1% in August to 4.2% in September.
The figures signal a cooling US economy, which experts said reduced the likelihood of a series of further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
The 29,000 jobs created in September was down from a figure of 133,000 in August, according to revised BLS figures for the month.
But George Brown, senior economist at Schroders, said while job gains have been a “rollercoaster“ this year, a single soft report is unlikely to point to a lasting collapse.
And Bradley Saunders, North America economist at Capital Economics, said the lower figure was “not disastrous“, adding that a drop in government roles and temporary visa policy changes weighed on overall growth.
Jeffery Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, added that the data showed tension between “goods producing sectors that support the AI boom” and service industries feeling the effect of changes brought about by the tech.
“Given the overall softness of the labour market, the likelihood of two Fed hikes is going lower,” he said.
The BLS report stands in sharp contrast to President Donald Trump’s insistence that America’s economy is booming and it is the “hottest” nation in the world.
The disconnect is likely to present significant challenges as the president and his fellow Republicans hit the the campaign trail with just a month to go before the midterm congressional elections.
According to an AP/NORC poll released on Thursday, just 17% of Americans approve of the president’s handling of cost-of-living issues, while 26% approve of his handling of the economy overall.
Both are new lows for Trump, surpassing the lowest mark for Democrat Joe Biden during his presidential term.
There have been some indications that the president understands that his views of the American economy are out of step with those of most Americans.
“I’ve done a very bad job of explaining how good the country is doing,” he said at a White House event earlier this week.
