Nick Rummell

MANHATTAN (CN) — The first employment report in months released Thursday showed the U.S. economy added 119,000 jobs for September, more than double what many had anticipated.

The unemployment rate inched up to 4.4%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report, slightly higher than the 4.3% expected and the highest it has been since late 2021. A separate weekly unemployment report from the Labor Department showed 220,000 initial claims were filed last week , about what was expected.

While the post-government shutdown jobs report’s headline print was surprisingly good, those gains were offset by an additional 34,000 lost in July and August.

Further, most of the gains were concentrated in the health care and food and drinking sectors. Health care saw 43,000 additio

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