The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, Oct. 3, edition that United States employers added a disappointing 29,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticked up last month, the government reported Friday. An Associated Press dispatch to The Globe reports that hiring dropped from a revised 133,000 in August, the Labour Department reported. The unemployment rate rose to a still-low 4.2 per cent from 4.1 per cent in August. Economists had expected September payrolls to come in at 90,000. The new hiring data may prompt the Federal Reserve to refocus on employment, one of its two mandates. Recently, many Fed officials have prioritized combating inflation. With a weaker job market, the Fed might prefer to keep its key rate unchanged at next month's meeting instead of raising it. Average hourly wages were up just 3 per cent last month from a year earlier, the smallest year-over-year gain since May, 2021. "In this data, there is no sign that the labour market is stoking inflation," said Wilmington Trust economist Luke Tilley. Still, the unemployment rate remains low and inflation has been above the central bank's 2-per-cent target for more than five years, so the Fed's concern about elevated prices is still front and centre.