U.S. employers added just 29,000 jobs in September — well below the roughly 90,000 consensus — and the unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1%, according to the Labor Department’s Friday (Oct. 2, 2026) report as wrapped by Reuters, FOREX.com, and other Instant View desks. August payrolls were revised down to 133,000 from 162,000; combined July–August revisions subtracted about 60,000 jobs in some BLS/AFP tallies. Average hourly earnings rose 0.1% m/m and 3.0% y/y — softer than the ~0.3% / ~3.3% expectations cited by FOREX.com.

Stocks bounced and yields fell on the “bad news is good news” read for Fed path risk. Reuters Instant View: S&P 500 opened about +0.9%; Nasdaq about +1.2%. The 2-year yield fell about 3 bp to 4.758% (earlier as much as −8 bp); the 10-year fell about 3 bp to 5.205%; the 30-year was down about 1.6 bp to 5.588%. October Fed hike odds fell as low as about 12% before ticking back toward ~21% in that wrap. FOREX.com also flagged Dow futures ~+0.8%, S&P futures ~+0.92%, Nasdaq futures ~+1.2% into the print.

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Tape — not a trade call

Softer jobs after multi-decade yield highs earlier this week ease near-term hike pressure — without settling the December path or inflation path. Live crypto marks Friday morning (~9:13 a.m. MT via Robinhood): BTC ~$85.6K, ETH ~$2,705, XRP ~$1.51, SOL ~$120. Not investment advice.

Sources