September Jobs Report: Nonfarm Payrolls Beat Estimates, Unemployment Falls [Video]

The US economy saw way better job growth than expected in September. It added 254,000 jobs during the month, blowing away the forecast of 147,000.

Additionally, the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 4.1%, below the consensus estimate of 4.2%. It marks the second straight monthly decline.

The encouraging numbers were further evidence of labor-market strength. The Federal Reserve signaled a pivot from fighting inflation to supporting the job market with a 50-basis-point interest-rate cut in mid-September, the first cut in four years.

The rate of labor-force participation was unchanged once again, sitting at 62.7%.

Wage growth was another highlight for the labor market in September. Average earnings were $35.36 an hour in September, 4% higher than a year ago. That’s a higher year-over-year increase than the 3.9% in August. Earnings also rose 0.4% month over month in September from $35.23 an hour in August.

“We like to see wages going up. The fear is obviously that wages would accelerate to a point …