United States job growth accelerated in September despite a cooling job market as the unemployment rate rose.Nonfarm payrolls grew by 119,000 jobs after a downwardly revised 4,000 drop in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report released on Thursday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent, up from 4.3 percent in August.The healthcare sector had the most gains, totalling 43,000 jobs in September. Food and beverage services sectors followed, adding 37,000 jobs, and social assistance employment grew by 14,000.Other sectors saw little change, including construction, wholesale trade, retail services, as well as professional and business services.The federal workforce saw a decline of 3,000, marking 97,000 jobs cut from the nation’s largest employer since the beginning of the year. Transportation and warehousing, an industry hit hard by tariffs, also saw declines and shed 25,000 jobs in September.Average wages grew by 0.2 percent, or 9 cents, to $36.67.Government shutdown hurdlesThe September jobs report was initially slated for release on October 3, but was pushed out because of the US government shutdown. The jobs report typically comes out on the first Friday of each month. Because of the 43-day-long shutdown, the US Labor Department was unable to collect the data needed to calculate the unemployment rate for the month of October.Nonfarm payrolls for the month of October will be released as part of the November employment report, which is slated to be released on December 16. Advertisement Heading into the economic data blackout, the BLS had …
