U.S. shows weakness as hiring slows in September

WASHINGTON— U.S. employers cut back sharply on hiring in September and added fewer jobs in July and August than previously thought — a sour note for a labour market that had been steadily improving. The U.S. economy added just 142,000 jobs last month, depressed by job cuts by manufacturers and oil drillers. The unemployment rate remained 5.1per cent, but only because many Americans have stopped looking for work and are no longer counted as unemployed. The proportion of adults either with a job or looking for one is at a 38-year low.

Friday’s tepid jobs report suggested that the U.S. economy, which has been outshining others around the world, is weakening. Lacklustre growth overseas has reduced exports of U.S. factory goods. China, the world’s second-largest economy after the United States, is slowing. Europe is struggling. Emerging economies from Brazil to Turkey are straining to grow at all.

“The weakness in the global economy is washing onto American shores,” James Marple, a senior economist at TD Bank, said in a note to clients.

The tepid pace of hiring complicates the picture for the Federal Reserve, which is considering whether to raise interest rates from record lows. Fed chairwp,am Janet Yellen has said the job market is nearly healed. She has also said she wants to see further hiring and pay growth for reassurance that inflation is moving toward the Fed’s 2-per-cent target. Average hourly wages slipped a penny in September and have now risen just 2.2 per cent in the past year.