The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the September numbers Friday: 29,000 new jobs against expectations of 84,000, with unemployment ticking up to 4.2%. July was revised to a net loss of 10,000 jobs and August was cut by 29,000 — 60,000 fewer jobs than originally reported across the two months.
Here's the upside the headlines are burying: those soft numbers just took an October Fed rate hike off the table. Markets are now pricing in an 85% chance the Fed holds rates steady at its October 27–28 meeting — the exact relief the White House has been pushing for, delivered without lifting a finger.
Cheaper borrowing costs heading into the midterms. That's not a flop — that's an opening.