The US economy added 119,000 jobs in September, but unemployment ticked up to 4.4 percent, according to a two-months late report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The report for September came late after the longest government shutdown in history began on Oct. 1., which came before the first Friday of the month, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics historically releases the nonfarm payroll employment numbers. The government reopened last week.
The report shows a higher rate of unemployment than earlier this year, when the unemployment rate was at 4.1 percent in January.
This also comes as inflation continues to rise partially because of President Donald Trumpâs reciprocal tariffs. Last week, Trump slashed tariffs for products including bananas, beef and coffee that the United States does not produce enough to keep up with demand.
Health care proved to be the strongest sector in the economy, adding 43,000 jobs while in food service and drinking establishments added 37,000 jobs. But employment in transportation and warehousing dropped by 25,000 jobs.
Employment in the the federal government shed 3,000 jobs, down from its peak of 97,000 jobs. At the same time, the report does not count people on paid leave or receiving severance pay, meaning that it is hard to determine people who lost their jobs due to Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiencyâs slashing spree.
Despite the fact that Trump has emphasized increased oil drilling in the United States and bragged about allowing oil companies to âdrill, baby, drill,â jobs in mining and quarrying as well as oil and gas extraction remained relatively the same.
