Underwhelming job report gives Trump midterm headwind

The job market weakened significantly in September, as new Labor Department data came in well below expectations, suggesting that the celebrated hiring surge reported the previous month was short-lived.

The U.S. economy added 29,000 jobs in September, according to the Employment Situation Summary for September, published on Friday morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

That is less than a third of the 90,000 most analysts had penciled in, though predictions ranged from 180,000 to 35,000.

It also marks a steep drop compared to 133,000 in August, which was revised down from an originally reported 162,000.

July’s total was also revised down by 31,000, from 21,000 jobs to a negative -10,000, meaning the previous two months’ hiring was 60,000 weaker than originally believed.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate inched up to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent. This compares with 4 percent when President Donald Trump returned to office and a recent peak of 4.5 percent in November.

This is a developing story. More to come.