September 2026 Jobs Report Explained

NATIONWIDE — U.S. employers added just 29,000 jobs in September 2026, and the two months before it were revised down by a combined 60,000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the September jobs report this morning, and the unemployment rate held at 4.2 percent.

Hiring is slow but not stopped: health care, construction and manufacturing added jobs in September, while information, temp staffing, finance and government shed them.

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📊 What the Numbers Say

The BLS Employment Situation report for September 2026 puts the month's payroll gain at 29,000, seasonally adjusted and preliminary. That is below the average gain of 45,000 a month over the prior 12 months, according to the bureau.

The revisions matter as much as the headline. BLS now says July lost 10,000 jobs rather than gaining 21,000, and August gained 133,000 rather than the 162,000 first reported. August gets one more revision with the October report, and September gets two, so treat this month's 29,000 as a first draft.

The household survey, a separate measurement, tells a steady story. The unemployment rate was 4.2 percent, and BLS notes it has stayed between 4.1 and 4.3 percent since March. About 7.1 million people were unemployed. Of those, 1.9 million had been looking for 27 weeks or longer, which is 27.1 percent of everyone unemployed. The labor force participation rate was 61.8 percent.

Pay kept growing, slowly. Average hourly earnings for private-sector employees rose 5 cents in September to $37.81, a 3.0 percent increase over the past year. The average workweek held at 34.4 hours.

Payroll change, September 2026 (preliminary)	+29,000
Payroll change, August 2026 (revised)	+133,000
Payroll change, July 2026 (revised)	−10,000
Unemployment rate	4.2%
Average hourly earnings, private sector	$37.81, up 3.0% over the year
Long-term unemployed (27 weeks or more)	1.9 million

All figures are seasonally adjusted, from the BLS Employment Situation release of October 2, 2026.

Which Sectors Added Jobs in September and Which Lost Them

Over-the-month changes from the BLS establishment survey, seasonally adjusted, September 2026 preliminary:

Sector	Change
Health care	+17,000
Construction	+11,000
Leisure and hospitality	+10,000
Manufacturing	+9,000
Transportation and warehousing	+7,600
Retail trade	+5,800
Financial activities	−7,000
Professional and business services	−9,000
Information	−10,000
Government	−17,000

Health care is still the biggest gainer, but it is cooling. The sector added 17,000 jobs, about half its 12-month average of 33,000. Ambulatory care, which covers doctors' offices, outpatient clinics and home health, added 13,000, and hospitals added 12,000. Nursing and residential care facilities lost about 9,000.

Construction held its pace. It added 11,000 jobs, in line with its 12-month average of 10,000, and BLS points to nonresidential specialty trade contractors, the electricians, plumbers and HVAC crews working on commercial and industrial buildings, which added 12,000.

Manufacturing keeps edging up. Factories added 9,000 jobs in September and 72,000 since December 2025, according to BLS, with gains in plastics and rubber products and in machinery. Factory workweeks held at 40.6 hours with 3.0 hours of overtime.

Most of the losses were in office-based industries. Temporary help services lost about 11,000 jobs, the information sector lost 10,000, and financial activities lost 7,000. BLS says financial activities employment is down 129,000 since its May 2025 peak. Government employment fell by 17,000.

🔎 What the September Jobs Report Means for Your Search

A 29,000-job month does not mean nobody is hiring. It means hiring is concentrated. If you can work in the fields that grew, you are searching where demand is. If your background is in the fields that shrank, it pays to look sideways.

If you work in health care, outpatient settings are where the growth is this month. Medical assistants, phlebotomists, patient service representatives and medical billing staff work in exactly the kind of clinics and physicians' offices that added jobs. Hospitals are still adding too.

If you work with your hands, commercial construction trades and factory roles are holding up. Electrician helpers, HVAC technicians, machine operators and production workers are all fair searches. Many of these jobs train on the job.

If you are coming out of finance, tech or a temp office role, expect fewer openings in your exact title. Your skills travel, though. Billing, scheduling and patient access roles in health care use the same customer service and data accuracy you already have, and plant and construction companies hire schedulers, purchasing staff and office coordinators.

If you are looking for holiday work, retail and transportation and warehousing both added jobs in September, and the big seasonal employers are already posting. Applying in October beats waiting for Thanksgiving week.

Set your expectations on timing. With 1.9 million people unemployed for six months or longer, a search can take a while even in fields that are hiring. Apply steadily, and widen your title list rather than your waiting time.

Start here:

🗺️ Where to Look in Your City

These are large metros on our network with sizable health care, construction or manufacturing employers, the three sectors that added the most jobs in September.

Not on the list? Find your city.

September Jobs Report FAQ

How many jobs were added in September 2026?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a preliminary, seasonally adjusted gain of 29,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in September 2026. The figure will be revised in the next two monthly reports.

What is the unemployment rate right now?

The unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in September 2026, seasonally adjusted, according to BLS. It has stayed between 4.1 and 4.3 percent since March.

Why did July turn negative?

BLS revises each month's payroll estimate twice as more employer survey responses come in. The second estimate for July came in at a loss of 10,000 jobs, down from the earlier figure of a 21,000 gain. Revisions like this are routine, though this pair was large.

Which industries are hiring the most?

In September, health care added the most jobs at 17,000, followed by construction at 11,000, leisure and hospitality at 10,000 and manufacturing at 9,000. Within health care, outpatient clinics and hospitals did the adding.

Are wages still going up?

Yes. Average hourly earnings for private-sector employees were $37.81 in September, up 3.0 percent from a year earlier, according to BLS.

When is the next jobs report?

BLS is scheduled to release the October 2026 report on Friday, November 6, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Keep Your Search Moving This Fall

A slow month nationally is a good reason to search smarter, not to stop. Create a free LocalJobPage account to save searches and get alerts when new jobs post in your field, or browse every open job on the network.

Employers: Hiring for health care, trades or seasonal help this fall? Post your openings on LocalJobPage and reach local job seekers in your city.

September 2026 Jobs Report: 29,000 Jobs Added and Where the Hiring Is