The Latest: Delayed job report shows 119,000 jobs added in September

The increase in payrolls was more than double the 50,000 economists had forecast. But Labor Department revisions showed that the economy lost 4,000 jobs in August instead of gaining 22,000 as originally reported.

During the 43-day U.S. government shutdown, investors, businesses, policymakers and the Federal Reserve were groping in the dark for clues about the health of the American job market. The federal workers who collect data on hiring and unemployment had been furloughed and couldn’t do their jobs.

Here's the latest:

September job gains still reflect a narrow base of hiring

The modest increase of 119,000 jobs reflects a rebound in hiring after a weak summer, but many industries are still shedding workers, including manufacturing, which President Trump has sought to bolster with his sweeping tariffs.

Nearly all the jobs added were gained in health care, restaurants, hotels, and state and local government. Health care and government are largely insulated from the ups and downs of the economy and so don’t necessarily reflect economic health.

Construction companies added 19,000 jobs last month, likely fueled by the data center building boom. Factories, however, cut workers for the fifth straight month and have shed 94,000 jobs compared with a year ago. Transportation and warehousing firms slashed 25,300 jobs in another hit to lower-income workers.

Solid job gain could make Federal Reserve interest rate cut less likely

Many Fed officials were already leaning against reducing their key rate for the third time this year at their meeting next month.

The case for reducing borrowing costs has largely been based on the fear that the job market could be rapidly deteriorating. Yet in September, employers added 119,000 jobs, a modest increase but a clear improvement after a summer slowdown that saw employers shed jobs in June and August.

The unemployment rate ticked higher to 4.4% from 4.3% but that largely occurred for what economists call a “good” reason — more Americans came off the sidelines to look for work, and not all immediately found jobs. That’s considered a more reassuring reason for the increase than a sharp rise in layoffs.

Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick to take leave from committee post after indictment

Christie Stephenson, a spokesperson for House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, said in a statement that the Florida representative will take leave from her role as ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.

The move comes after the Justice Department announced Wednesday that she had been indicted on charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds and using some of the money to support her 2021 campaign.

Stephenson said Cherfilus-McCormick “is entitled to her day in court and the presumption of innocence,” but that House rules require her to step aside from the committee “while this matter is ongoing.”

Multicultural New Orleans awaits arrival of ‘Swamp Sweep’ immigration crackdown

New Orleans, the laid-back city known as the Big Easy and the birthplace of jazz, where lavish parades, bead-throwing debauchery and Creole cuisine attract tourists from around the globe, is about to become the next staging ground for the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.

Operation “Swamp Sweep,” an expansive, monthslong immigration crackdown, is expected to launch in southeast Louisiana Dec. 1, but Democrat-run New Orleans is anticipating the arrival of as many as 250 federal troops as soon as Friday, all with the backing of the state’s Republican governor.

Gov. Jeff Landry has sought to align New Orleans with federal immigration enforcement efforts through legislation and legal challenges, and the Border Patrol deployment is just the latest drive to ramp up that pressure. And with the New Orleans Police Department being released from a federal reform pact Wednesday, its officers have lost a legal mechanism that has long-shielded them from having to participate in immigration enforcement.

▶ Read more about the immigration crackdown in New Orleans

US employers added surprisingly solid 119,000 jobs in September, government says in delayed report

The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% from 4.3% in August, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The increase in payrolls was more than double the 50,000 economists had forecast. But Labor Department revisions showed the economy lost 4,000 jobs in August instead of gaining 22,000 as originally reported.

During the 43-day U.S. government shutdown, investors, businesses, policymakers and the Federal Reserve were groping in the dark for clues about the health of the American job market because federal workers had been furloughed and couldn’t collect the data.

The report comes at a time of considerable uncertainty about the economy. The job market has been strained by the lingering effects of high interest rates and uncertainty around President Trump’s erratic campaign to slap taxes on imports from almost every country on earth. But economic growth at midyear was resilient.

▶ Read more about the U.S. jobs report

Americans like democracy, but don’t believe it or US institutions are working well, poll finds

About half of U.S. adults believe democracy is functioning “very” or “moderately” poorly in the United States, while only around one-quarter think it’s doing “very” or “moderately” well, according to a new poll, marking a sharp decline from several decades ago when majorities thought democracy was generally working the way it should.

The Kettering Foundation-Gallup survey found that about two-thirds of Americans “strongly agree” or “agree” that democracy is the best form of government. Very few disagree, with about one-third saying they don’t have an opinion. But alongside the widespread disappointment in how democracy is working, few believe the country’s leaders are committed to democratic governance or think government decisions reflect the will of the people.

Few U.S. adults doubt their fellow Americans’ commitment to strong democracy, according to the poll, but they’re less certain about their political leadership. More than 4 in 10 Americans don’t believe their leaders are committed to having a strong democracy, while about 3 in 10 say they’re not sure.

▶ Read more about the poll on democracy in the U.S.

Labor Department said Wednesday that it won’t won’t release a full jobs report for October

That’s because it couldn’t calculate the unemployment rate during the government shutdown.

Instead, it will release some of the October jobs data — including the number of jobs that employers created last month — along with the full November jobs report Dec. 16, a couple of weeks late.

That puts an even more intense focus on September jobs numbers released Thursday. They are the last full measurement of hiring and unemployment that Fed policymakers will see before they meet Dec. 9-10 to decide whether to cut their benchmark interest rate for the third time this year.

Chief US economist at Santander bank is more optimistic about September hiring than most peers

Stephen Stanley forecasts that employers added 75,000 jobs.

President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration is expected to reduce the number of people looking for work, which means the economy can create fewer jobs without sending the unemployment rate higher.

In the past, Stanley wrote in a commentary Wednesday, the “breakeven’’ point for monthly job creation was seen as somewhere between 125,000 and 150,000; but as fewer immigrants seek work, he says, the job market can remain stable even if employers add just 50,000 jobs a month, maybe fewer.