EXPLAINER: 5 key takeaways from the September jobs report

By PAUL WISEMAN
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — September wasn’t exactly the robust month for hiring that many had expected and hoped for. With the delta variant still disrupting the economy and employers struggling to find enough workers, the gain for the month amounted to 194,000 jobs — not even half of what economists had expected. In August, the economy had added a modest 366,000 jobs. Taken together, hiring for the past two months marked a steep drop-off from the 962,000 jobs that were added in June and the 1.1 million in July. The job market has endured wild swings since COVID-19 hammered the United States beginning in March 2020.