September's 245,000 new jobs topped consensus forecasts by about 100,000. This means the Fed can probably slow the pace of rate cuts, economists said.

On the other hand, the world is a mess, inflation still lurks, and there’s a contentious election in November. Given all of that, a data-driven Fed is likely to stay the course.

U.S. Federal Reserve concerns about a slowing job market were relieved for at least another month when new data on Friday showed job growth jumped and the unemployment rate fell in September, adding to investor bets the central bank will cut its benchmark rate only a quarter of a percentage point next month.