The US economy added only 29,000 jobs in September, far below the 90,000 economists expected. Yet Wall Street cheered, sending the Nasdaq Composite to a record close of 27,190.86. The weak payroll number eased fears of another Federal Reserve rate hike this month. Traders now see only an 18 to 22 per cent chance of a hike at the October 27-28 meeting, down from about 64 to 70 per cent a week ago. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.2 per cent from 4.1 per cent. Wage growth cooled: average hourly earnings rose 0.1 per cent in the month and 3 per cent over the year, the slowest since May 2021. Revisions made the picture softer still. August payrolls were cut to 133,000 from 162,000, while July swung to a loss of 10,000 from a gain of 21,000, a combined 60,000 fewer jobs than first reported. The Nasdaq rose 1.19 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.73 per cent to 7,722.72, and the Dow added 0.49 per cent. The Fed raised rates in September for the first time in three years. The 10-year Treasury yield settled near 5.29 per cent after the report.