US hiring slows sharply as unemployment edges up

US hiring lost momentum in September: employers added 29,000 jobs, well below forecasts, while the unemployment rate rose from 4.1% to 4.2%. The picture was weaker than the headline alone suggests because estimates for July and August were revised down by a combined 60,000 jobs. Average hourly earnings rose 3.0% from a year earlier, a slower pace that points to less pressure on companies to lift pay—and potentially prices—to attract workers. Payrolls come from a survey of employers, while unemployment comes from households, so they do not always move together; but the combination signals a labor market that is cooling, not collapsing, and gives the Federal Reserve more room to focus on whether inflation is easing.