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Briefing|Hiring Increased, but So Did the Unemployment Rate
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/briefing/jobs-report-ukraine-peace-college-radio.html
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Employers recorded a healthy month of hiring in September, according to today’s jobs report. The economy added 119,000 jobs, easing some concern that the labor market had tipped into a contraction.
There were a couple of noteworthy caveats. The unemployment rate increased to a four-year peak of 4.4 percent, suggesting that more people were looking for work and not finding it. The unemployment rate for workers between ages 20 and 24 is 9.2 percent, the highest it has been since 2015.
The report was also out of date, delayed by six weeks during the government shutdown. The result is a swirl of mixed signals. Policymakers at the Fed are at their most confident when the economy is soaring or suffering, but they are currently divided over what to do next.
Other economic news also presented uncertainty. Walmart said that its profits rose 34 percent, to $6.1 billion, in its most recent quarter, but cited “pockets of moderation” among lower-income shoppers, who pulled back on spending.
Stocks were up in the morning. But by market close, the major U.S. indexes had given up those gains as concerns about overvalued A.I. companies crept back in.
