U.S. employers continued to hire at a solid pace last month and the jobless rate unexpectedly returned to a historic low, indicating a sturdy labor market that puts the inflation-focused Federal Reserve on course for another outsize interest-rate hike.
Nonfarm payrolls increased 263,000 in September after a 315,000 gain in August, a Labor Department report showed Friday. The unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 3.5%, matching a five-decade low. Average hourly earnings rose firmly.
The median estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 255,000 advance in payrolls and for the unemployment rate to hold at 3.7%. Hiring was relatively broad based, led by gains in leisure and hospitality and health care.
