Report shows hiring at lowest since 2009 as economists turn to alternative data during shutdown blackout

Unemployment changed little in September, while layoff and hiring rates both slowed, according to separate labor market reports Thursday.

The jobless level barely moved at 4.34%, according to a relatively new set of data indicators compiled by the Chicago Federal Reserve. That represented little change from August, though was just 0.01 percentage point away from moving up to 4.4%, the highest level since October 2021.

In September, the central bank district announced it would be releasing its own dashboard of labor market indicators that also includes the layoff rate, which was little changed monthly at 2.1%, and the hiring rate, which moved lower to 45.2%, down 0.4 percentage point from August.

Elsewhere in the labor market, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that layoff announcements declined 37% in September and were down 26% from the same month a year ago.

However, the year-to-date level of planning furloughs is the highest since 2020, the year of the Covid pandemic. Challenger said announced cuts have totaled 946,426 through the first three quarters. The figure already is 24% higher than all of 2024.

At the same time, the firm said hiring plans have receded sharply.

New hirings totaled just 204,939 so far in 2025, off 58% from the same period a year ago and the lowest level since 2009, when the U.S. economy was still in the throes of the financial crisis.

“Previous periods with this many job cuts occurred either during recessions or, as was the case in 2005 and 2006, during the first wave of automations that cost jobs in manufacturing and technology,” said Andy Challenger, the firm’s senior vice president and labor expert.

Together, the data points fill in some gaps on information that usually comes from the Labor Department.

However, with the government shutdown entering its second day and no indications of a resolution anytime soon, economists and Fed policymakers will have to rely on data that doesn’t come from the government.

The department normally would have released its weekly count of initial jobless claims on Thursday. Friday’s nonfarm payrolls count from the Bureau of Labor Statistics also will be delayed.