September's 245,000 new jobs topped consensus forecasts by about 100,000. This means the Fed can probably slow the pace of rate cuts, economists said.

The September jobs report comes as investors debate whether the labor market is cooling quickly enough that the Federal Reserve will opt for a larger interest rate cut in November.

The U.S. economy likely maintained a moderate pace of job growth in September while the unemployment rate is expected to have held steady at 4.2%.

The Labor Department said on Friday that the economy created 254,000 jobs in September, smashing Wall Street expectations and giving another boost to the Federal Reserve looking to ease off on the cou

The September job report "should put to rest – at least for the next month – the idea that the economy is about to fall off a cliff or that imminent doom is on the horizon," says Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance.

"On the face of this the Fed should be hiking rates with these sorts of figures, not cutting rates," Economist James Knightley said.

Stronger-than-expected job growth could reaffirm the market’s expectation the Fed will slow its future rate cuts to a quarter-point each, following a half-point reduction at its September meeting. Softer growth could do the opposite,

When inflation surged in late 2021 and into 2022, the Federal Reserve focused its attention squarely on the price stability part of its dual mandate. And for over a year, the policymakers drove home the message,

The U.S. labor market grew at a faster rate than expected in September with notable gains in the food and beverage sector as well as health care, although manufacturing shed jobs.

The big 254,000 increase in new jobs in September is almost certainly not going to be repeated in October, economists say. How come? For starters, a strike by 33,000 Boeing employees could hold down the headline jobs number.