A long-overdue U.S. labor market update released Thursday revealed that hiring in September was far stronger than economists had anticipated.
According to the Labor Department, nonfarm payrolls rose by 119,000 positions during the month, easily outpacing expectations and reversing a previously revised decline of 4,000 jobs in August.
Forecasters had been looking for a more modest gain of about 50,000 jobs, compared with the initially reported 22,000 increase for August.
Despite the stronger hiring, the jobless rate inched up to 4.4%, up from 4.3% the previous month. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to hold steady.
In a separate release, the Labor Department reported that new filings for unemployment benefits dropped more than expected in the week ending November 15.
Initial jobless claims slipped to 220,000, down 8,000 from the prior week’s revised total of 228,000. Analysts were anticipating a smaller decline to around 223,000.
The four-week moving average, which smooths out weekly volatility, also edged lower to 224,250, a decrease of 3,000 from the prior week.