Nasdaq hits record high after weaker-than-expected US jobs report – as it happened

Newsflash: the US economy added much fewer jobs than expected last month, after a sharp slowdown in hiring.

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by just 29,000 last month, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported.

That’s much weaker than the 90,000 new jobs which economists had expected.

Employment in all major industries changed little over the month.

In another blow, August’s jobs report has been revised down to show that 29,000 fewer jobs were created than first estimated – 133,000, not 162,000.

And July’s jobs gains have been revised down by 31,000, from +21,000 to -10,000, meaning the US economy lost jobs in July.