While job openings are coming down, they’re still extremely elevated. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg US companies hired at a solid clip in September, suggesting demand for workers remains healthy despite rising economic uncertainty. Businesses’ payrolls rose 208,000 last month after an upwardly revised 185,000 gain in August, according to data from ADP Research Institute in collaboration with Stanford Digital Economy Lab. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 200,000 advance. While there are some signs of moderation in labor demand, the ADP data reinforce what’s still a strong jobs market, complicating efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool decades-high inflation without triggering a jump in unemployment. Applications for unemployment insurance remain historically low , and while job openings are coming down , they’re still extremely elevated. Nearly three-fourths of the increase in private payrolls last month was driven by a surge in employment in trade, […]

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