Bitcoin Tops $87,000 as Weak September Payrolls Cut October Fed Hike Odds

The US economy added 29,000 jobs in September, less than a third of the 90,000 consensus, according to Marketpulse. The same report, published on 2 October 2026, showed the unemployment rate rising to 4.2% and annual wage growth easing to 3.0%.

The soft print fed straight into markets. Bitcoin climbed above $87,000 on Friday morning in New York, Bitcoinmagazine reported, citing both the jobs report and steady exchange-traded fund flows.

Also read: S&P 500 Climbs 1.49% as Crude Plunges and Chips Surge

Key facts

• September nonfarm payrolls rose 29,000, below the 90,000 consensus (Marketpulse).
• Revisions cut a combined 60,000 jobs from July and August: August fell from 162,000 to 133,000, and July’s 21,000 gain became a 10,000 loss (Marketpulse).
• Unemployment edged up from 4.1% to 4.2%, while average hourly earnings rose 0.1% on the month and annual wage growth slowed to 3.0% from 3.1% in August and 3.8% a year earlier (Marketpulse).
• Bitcoin stood at $85,990 after a 2% jump over 24 hours and had risen more than 2% over the week (Bitcoinmagazine).
• Healthcare added 23,000 jobs and manufacturing 9,000, while government employment fell 17,000 and temporary employment declined 11,000 (Marketpulse).

A cooling labour market, not a collapse

Marketpulse reported that the disappointment ran past the headline. The downward revisions suggest demand for workers has been weaker than previously thought, giving the Fed more reason to review incoming data before tightening again. Average monthly payroll growth over the past six months was 66,000, a modest pace that Marketpulse said is partly offset by lower immigration, which means fewer new jobs are needed to keep unemployment broadly stable.

The author of the Marketpulse report, senior market analyst Łukasz Zembik, said he continues to expect another rate increase in December rather than October. In the first market reaction, the dollar strengthened, gold gained and US Treasury yields fell, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 also moving higher.

Also read: Chipmakers and Bitcoin Lift Stocks as Crude Sinks 4%

Why it matters

Bitcoin’s move is the clearest read on how traders are pricing the data. Bitcoinmagazine tied the gain to the same logic Marketpulse laid out: slower hiring can mean less consumer spending and softer price pressure, which reduces the odds of further Fed tightening. Ryan Warsh, the central bank’s new chair, has said prices in the world’s biggest economy are too high and that the Fed is focused on affordability, according to Bitcoinmagazine.

The two reports frame the same week differently. Marketpulse reads the numbers through the Fed’s October decision and the dollar, gold and short-dated Treasury yields. Bitcoinmagazine frames them as fuel for risk assets, noting that bitcoin investors shrugged off the September hike, that the coin began rallying in August after the Treasury Department said it would more than double its government debt repurchases, and that the dollar slid in value that month. Bitcoinmagazine also reported that October has historically delivered good returns for bitcoin, a pattern traders call “Uptober”.

What to watch

The October Fed meeting is the immediate test of whether the pause case holds. Marketpulse noted that inflation and activity data, particularly how far higher energy prices feed into broader price pressures, will decide whether further tightening is needed, with Zembik pointing to December as the more likely moment for a hike than October. Neither report is financial advice, and rate expectations, the dollar and crypto prices remain volatile.

Written by

Benjamin

Benjamin Carter covers business, finance, and the stock market for StockPil, focusing on the trends and data that matter to everyday investors.

Sources: MarketPulse, Bitcoinmagazine