Wall Street Reacts to 'Soft' Jobs Report -- WSJ

By Jack Pitcher

The September jobs report suggests that the labor market is weaker than previously thought, complicating the Federal Reserve's path forward for future rate hikes. Here's what investors and analysts have to say:

-- "Weaker payrolls, softer wage growth and a higher unemployment rate all point to a labor market that's cooling rather than reaccelerating. That should take some steam out of Treasury yields and reduce the urgency for the Fed to act," said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.

-- "The unemployment rate ticking up to 4.2% warrants close attention, as rising joblessness in tandem with softer hiring could signal that the Fed's tightening cycle may at some point constrain economic activity more meaningfully than anticipated," said Jerry Tempelman, VP of economic and fixed income research at Mutual of America Capital Management.

-- "This is the low-hire, low-fire labor market we have been talking about...the market treated it as Goldilocks: not too hot, not too cold," said Ken Mahoney, CEO of Mahoney Asset Management.

-- "While the weak payrolls number perhaps creates less urgency for the Fed, inflation remains the primary concern. This has the potential to slow down the pace of Fed rates hikes, but higher rates remains the broad theme," said Larry Holzenthaler, senior portfolio manager at Catalyst Funds

-- "The labor market is simmering, not boiling," said Jeff Schulze, head investment strategist at the Franklin Templeton Institute.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 02, 2026 09:13 ET (13:13 GMT)