September Jobs Report Shows 29,000 Gain as U.S. Unemployment Rate Rises to 4.2%

Bitcoin maintained its gains after Friday’s U.S. employment report showed a sharp slowdown in job creation. BTC was trading just below $87,000, up more than 2% over the past 24 hours.

The U.S. economy added only 29,000 jobs in September, according to the government’s Nonfarm Payrolls Report. The figure came in well below the 90,000 consensus estimate. August payroll growth was revised to 133,000 from the previously reported 162,000.

The unemployment rate also moved higher, reaching 4.2%. Economists had expected the rate to remain at 4.1%, matching August’s reading.

The revisions to earlier data painted an even weaker picture of employment growth. July’s 21,000-job increase was revised to a decline of 10,000 jobs.

The weaker labor-market figures could give the Federal Reserve greater flexibility to maintain its current interest-rate policy, even as inflation remains elevated.

Bitcoin was already higher before the report and stayed near $87,000 shortly after the figures were released. U.S. equity futures also extended their gains, with Nasdaq futures up 1.2%.

Treasury markets responded to the weaker employment data with a decline in yields. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 7 basis points to 5.17%, while the two-year yield dropped by the same amount to 4.71%. Gold gained more than 1%, while the U.S. dollar weakened against major currencies.

Wage growth was similarly subdued. Average hourly earnings rose 0.1% in September, missing the 0.3% forecast and matching neither August’s 0.3% increase.

On an annual basis, hourly earnings increased 3%, below the 3.2% estimate and August’s 3.1% growth rate.