Job creation slowed in September, with just 194,000 jobs added

Job growth in September undershot expectations for the second month in a row, adding to worries that the spread of the Delta variant and a tight job market are holding back the economic recovery.

Employers added 194,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists had expected about 490,000 jobs to be created.

"The ebbs and flows of the pandemic continue to wreak havoc on the labor market," Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said on Twitter.