U.S. adds fewer nonfarm jobs in Sept. as unemployment rate ticks up

U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by just 29,000 jobs in September, far below expectations, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

The tepid September gain contrasts with a solid 133,000 jobs added in August and falls below the average monthly increase of 45,000 over the previous 12 months.

According to the report, the healthcare sector added 17,000 jobs in September, while construction added 11,000 and manufacturing added 9,000. Government payrolls fell by 17,000 after adding 44,000 jobs in August, while financial activities and business services shed 7,000 and 9,000 jobs respectively, extending their recent contraction.

Following the release of the latest nonfarm payroll data, market expectations cooled for further rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve at its October monetary policy meeting.

While analysts have cautioned against reading too much into one weak month, American workers' anxiety over job security has reached its highest level in 13 years, with 44 percent expecting the unemployment rate to rise in the coming year, according to recent survey data.

U.S. adds fewer nonfarm jobs in Sept. as unemployment rate ticks up

U.S. adds fewer nonfarm jobs in Sept. as unemployment rate ticks up

U.S. adds fewer nonfarm jobs in Sept. as unemployment rate ticks up

The Pentagon acknowledged late Friday, local time, that the number of U.S. troops who had died during its operations against Iran was higher than previously reported, raising the official death toll to 21.

The revised figure includes two additional noncombat deaths: an Army National Guard major who died in Kuwait in March and a Navy service member who died in September.

The Pentagon's publicly available database had previously listed a lower death toll. According to the latest data, 865 service members had been wounded in the related operations as of October 9.

Sources familiar with the matter say official statistics fail to fully capture U.S. military casualties from the war with Iran.

Since the start of the war, actual U.S. casualty numbers have exceeded those recorded in the Pentagon's official database, with the records omitting information on hundreds of U.S. service members who were killed or injured, they said.

US troop death toll in Iran war raised to 21