September US Nonfarm Payrolls Rise More Than Expected After Downward Revisions, Unemployment Rate Up

08:44 AM EST, 11/20/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The September employment report showed nonfarm payrolls rose by 119,000, well above the 51,000 jobs increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:35 am ET, while August payrolls saw a sharp downward revision to a 4,000 decrease and July payrolls were revised down to a 72,000 increase, for a net downward revision of 33,000 jobs.

Private payrolls increased by 97,000 in September after an 18,000 increase in August, well above the increase of 65,000 private jobs expected. Health care payrolls increased by 57,100 jobs and leisure and hospitality jobs increased by 47,000.

The goods-producing sector rebounded by 10,000 jobs in the month.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in September from 4.3% in August, compared with a 4.3% rate expected, while the labor force participation rate rose to 62.4% from 62.3% in the previous month and the size of the labor force expanded on gains in the number of both the employed and unemployed.

Hourly earnings rose by 0.2%, slower than the 0.3% gain expected, and following a 0.4% increase in August. Hourly earnings were up 3.8% year-over-year, the same as in the previous month.

The average workweek remained at 34.2 hours, as expected.

The monthly employment report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics consists of two separate surveys and is considered the most important data release for the month. The survey of businesses measures the levels of employment and wages and the length of the average workweek, broken down by industry.

The survey of households measures the number of people working or looking for work, the unemployment rate, those that have left the workforce and reasons for part-time work.

Market reaction can be mixed, particularly when the two surveys disagree. A strong increase in employment or a decline in the unemployment rate is generally a positive for stocks as sign of a strong US economy, but bonds would react negatively to the same news, particularly if wages rise sharply at the same

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