ADP jobs report shows 143,000 gain. Cooling U.S. labor market leads to slower wage increases.

By Jeffry Bartash

Fewer businesses are hiring and big pay hikes are vanishing

Story developing. Stay tuned for updates here.

The numbers: U.S. businesses added a higher-than-expected 143,000 new jobs in September , paycheck company ADP said. Yet it was the sixth straight month in which employment gains totaled less than 200,000 in a sign the labor market has cooled off considerably.

A chillier labor market has overtaken inflation as the Federal Reserve's chief worry. The Fed cut interest rates two weeks ago with inflation slowing and the bank vowed to make further cuts to ensure the labor market doesn't deteriorate much further.

Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast a gain of 128,000 new jobs in the ADP's September survey.

Big picture: The red-hot labor market of a few years ago - when wages were surging and workers had leverage over their bosses - is gone.

Since jobs are harder to obtain, workers are quitting at the lowest rate in 11 years if the pandemic years are set aside.

Hiring is unlikely to accelerate much until the Fed cuts interest rates further and lower borrowing costs to juice the economy.

Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA and S&P 500 SPX were set to open lower in Thursday trading. An intensifying conflict between Israel and Iran was among the factors weighing on stocks.

-Jeffry Bartash

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10-02-24 0824ET

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