The US economy is expected to have added 90K jobs in September 2026, following a stronger-than-expected 162K gain in August. The private sector is forecast to have accounted for 85K of those gains. Employment growth is expected to moderate in leisure and hospitality and local government education, while construction payrolls are projected to see strong gains, partly driven by the expansion of data centers to support AI and manufacturing. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is expected to have remained unchanged at 4.1%, hovering near a one-year low. Average hourly earnings are projected to have increased 0.3% from the previous month and 3.2% from a year earlier, which would mark a small uptick from 3.1% in August which was the weakest annual growth since May 2021. Overall, the report is expected to point to a relatively stable labor market.