The FINANCIAL — The U.S. economy posted another month of weak job growth in September, suggesting global economic turmoil is sapping momentum from the U.S. expansion, according to Nasdaq.
Nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 142,000 in September, far below the trend over the past 18 months, the Labor Department said on October 2.
Job growth was also weaker earlier this summer than previously thought. Payrolls increased 136,000 in August instead of the initially reported 173,000. They grew 223,000 in July, down from the previously reported 245,000.
The unemployment rate remained at 5.1% last month after falling in August.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected payrolls to rise by 200,000 and the jobless rate to hold at 5.1%.
The report suggests the labor market downshifted this summer after an 18-month stretch of robust job creation, succumbing to stock market turmoil and mounting worries over a slowdown in China. U.S. job growth has averaged 167,000 over the past three months. Last year, job growth averaged 260,000 a month.
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